


Now and Then

by livvy_x



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Future Fic, Getting Back Together, Journalist Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones Needs a Hug, Jughead Jones is an Author, Post-Break Up, Slow Burn, Smut, True Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-03-16 09:06:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 30,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13633146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livvy_x/pseuds/livvy_x
Summary: Betty Cooper moved to New York City seven years ago. Afters years without any contact to Jughead Jones, the boy she once loved so dearly, she finds a book that was published by him, but under his real name. After reading it over and over, soaking in word after word, Betty finds herself back in Riverdale to find him. She wants answers. She wants an explanation. What happens when she finds him after so, so long? What happens between them if she decides to stay?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> After seven years of no contact with Jughead Jones, Betty finds his book in a local bookstore.

_“Dedicated to the one who left, to the one I love.”_

_“Some people find every little thing to be seraphic. Some people find heaven in everyone they meet. But, she’s the only angel I’ve ever seen.”_

_“I still dream of her every night. I can’t imagine a morning I wake up without the sound of her laugh in the back of my mind.”_

_“Regret. I think of that word quite a lot. Sometimes, when there’s an empty bottle of Jack in my hand and a cigarette between my lips, I think I regret her. I don’t. I don’t regret her; I could never do something like that. Who’s going to regret being with the one person who’s ever made them happy? It’d be foolish to do something like that. But I still think about it.”_

_“I’ve tried to get over her. Hell, I should have moved on a long time ago. No one can give me the amount of adoration she gave to me. No one can make me feel the way she did. I can’t move on; I won’t try anymore. So, solitude is where I’ll find my peace. I will be happy by myself because I’ll be damned before I run back to her.”_

_“I hate her. God, I should really fucking hate her. But hate is just another term for love when it comes to my feelings towards her. I love her so much, no matter what she’s done, and I always will.”_

* * *

These were excerpts from a novel by an author named Forsythe. Forsythe, of course, happened to be none other than Riverdale’s very own, Jughead Jones. The only thing is, the book might as well been released as anonymous because not a single person other than Betty Cooper and the Jones family knows his real name… not even the people he considered to be his  best friends.

Betty found the book. When she saw he published it with only his first name, she was surprised, but also understood why she was eight months late to reading it from the release. She’d be lying if she said she hasn’t been looking for something to be published by Jughead for the past seven years. That’s how long it’s been since she’s seen him… seven fucking years. All that time though, and she’s thought about him every day, and she  _knew_  that no one knew he published a book; if so, she’d be surprised.

When she found it, she was on her lunch break from working on her most recent article for the Wall Street Journal. She went to New York City seven years ago for  more than one reason: to go to college, to get a good job, to find herself completely… _she’s done two out of those three._  As she roamed around the closest library to the Wall Street Journal, she wandered for a book in the nonfiction area, just looking out of curiosity.  _Forsythe._  She could’ve sworn her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. Once she read the first page to make sure it was Jughead who wrote it, she called her boss to tell him an emergency came up and that she wouldn’t be able to come back in for the rest of the day.

She had to read it over and over again, let more process with each skim. At first she was just so bewildered he even published something, but she was proud he did. Betty understood the book probably better than anyone else would. He didn’t use first names, rather nicknames— ‘girl next door’ or ‘Hitchcock blonde girl’ or ‘my juliet’ for Betty, along with others. ‘Wannabe Donnie Darko’ or ‘snake plissken’ for himself; she knew he used to see those names as insults. ‘Teen Outlander,’ ‘big red,’ or ‘lover boy’ for Archie, while his girlfriend, Veronica got, ‘blue jasmine’ or ‘raven princess.’ Then there was Cheryl, who rightfully was either called, ‘sour cherry’ or ‘the devil, herself.’ Betty read on, finding the Serpents to be called as the snakes they were. Then, she found her mother to be referred to as the ‘acid queen’ or the ‘ice woman,’ which fit pretty well. The Cooper’s as a whole were the Stepford’s of Riverdale, and Jughead made sure to mention that. There was more, some names for Toni Topaz and Sweet Pea and Kevin Keller, along with some names for his absentee family members and his gang leader father. It just reminded Betty of his observance, also having something to remind him of a person.

He talked of his life in Riverdale. He talked of the hardship, of the losses he encountered, the loneliness, of the personal demons that he face. Then there was a few good parts, like how his two best friends, Archie and Sweet Pea got over their feud and became really close, or how Cheryl became more  _nice-ish_ when she and Toni got together. It wasn’t all bad. What stuck out to Betty like a sore thumb though was how he only talked very little of the Serpents. It made her hope that he was done with that part of his life.

Those few excerpts though… the ones that really went in deep about what he thought of her… they sent her over the edge. By her sixth time reading it, rereading those experts about her and how he loved her oh, so much, there was tears running down her cheeks. That’s also was the determining factor of why she was in an airport right now, getting ready to make a trip back to Riverdale. It was unlike Betty to make sporadic decisions, but she had to do this. It had been seven years and fourteen days of having no contact with Jughead… well, this was going to be the last day with not seeing those pretty, black curls or hear the husky, tired voice. She had things to do.

* * *

Pop’s Chock-lit Shoppe was the first place Betty went to find him. And though her heart was beating unusually fast and her palms were sweating profusely, she plastered a big smile on her face as she was met with the owner. “Oh, my goodness. Is that Betty Cooper I’m seeing?” Pop laughed joyously, his happy mannerisms rubbing off on those around him. “Oh, come here, girl,” he said, stepping out from behind the counter with arms wide open. “I’ve missed you, dear.”

Betty hugged him back, closing her eyes and think of all the memories she’s had in this place. It was refreshing, if she was being honest “I’ve missed you too, Pop,” she said softly. “How have things been holding up around here?”

“Oh, they’re good!” Pop beamed. “But that’s not a question worth asking, the question is, how is it living in the big city? How’s that journalism job coming along for you?”

“It’s going really great, Pop,” Betty nodded, feeling some sense of relief that he was being so kind,  _although it shouldn’t have been a surprise._  Quickly flashing in her mind, she pictured Jughead banishing her out of the town, if she’d ever come to find him, but that thought disappeared quickly… at least for the moment. “I’m really doing great.”

Pop smiled warmly, showing he was proud of the girl he’s known since she was yay-high. He had always imagined brightness in her future. “I’m happy for you, dear.” He paused. “Now tell me… that book there…”

Betty’s eyes widened as he moved his gaze from her to the novel stored under her arm. There was no question in his eyes as to what is was. “You know?”

“I’m the only one who does, I think… well, besides his family,” Pop said with a frown. “He quite the author. I always knew he would be,” he nodded, “and I’m sure you knew it too.” His lips then curved into a sad smile. Betty nodded, looking down at the hinges of the book… it had such a beautiful brown, leather cover and the ‘Forsythe’ written in the author’s name was in such an elegant cursive. She gulped, and Pop noticed. “You want to find him?” He asked.

Nodding still, Betty closed her eyes momentarily. “Yes.”

Pop let out a long breath. “Well, dear, I’m sure instincts’ll take you there,” he squeezed her arm. “But I’ll give you a little insight,” he winked. “Check the trailer or Veronica and Archie’s place in the Pembrooke. He’s either here or one of those places.” He was talking as if it shouldn’t surprise Betty that that’s where he’d be, and honestly, it didn’t. “You know him, he likes to keep things round-circle.”

Betty gulped and forced a smile, tightening her grip on the book. “Yeah,” she whispered. “I know him.”

* * *

On her journey to Sunnyside Trailer Park, Betty thought more about the contents of what Jughead wrote and how he handled them.  _My gosh, some of the stuff he wrote about,_  she thought, realizing for the thirtieth time in a single day how he could have answered one of her fucking calls or how he could have sent her an email or a text message or something.  _God, he could’ve done something._

It wasn’t even just the declarations of love he had in there that fueled her up. It was the talk of what other bad experiences he had while she was gone… with his family, with the Serpents, with his friends, with himself. He needed someone during this time and yeah, if she wouldn’t have left, maybe things would be different, but she did leave. She left and she called him everyday, but he didn’t answer. He never answered, so his loneliness or whatever, it was on him.

Betty was angry right now. Talk of what she did to him? What did she do to him? She was pissed and yes, maybe her judgement was clouded at the moment, but she felt like he was mixed up here. Even if she was in the wrong for leaving without warning, she felt angry enough to think he was completely wrong in putting any blame on her.

When she reached the door of his trailer, she made no hesitation in pounding on it. Luckily, a second later, it swung open.

Not to show Jughead, though.

To show Jellybean.

“Jelly?” Betty asked, her fury disappearing for the moment at the utter shock she felt.

“Betty?” Jellybean’s eyes were wide and amazed at the sight in front of her. Honestly, it was hard to decipher who was more surprised. But then, of course having the break the moment, a wave of coldness washed over Jellybean’s face. “What  _the fuck_  are you doing—”

A loud scolding voice boomed then. “Forsythia! Language!” FP yelled, approaching the door. When he saw Betty, his jaw dropped. A second later though, he was stepping forward and wrapping her in a hug. “You came home,” he laughed, squeezing her tightly.

“I came home,” Betty said into her ex-boyfriend’s father’s shirt. “Jelly’s home too, I see,” she whispered as they unlatched from each other.

Jellybean scoffed. “I go by JB now,” she spat. Everything about her demeanor was borderline hateful. Her arms were crossed and her eyes were narrowed. She clearly had some bones to pick . “Not that you’d know,” she rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue.

“Jellybean, go to your room,” FP ordered. In response he got a grunt of frustration, following by the sound of his daughter stomping away. “I’m sorry about her.”

Betty nodded, bringing the book to her chest so she could cross her arms over it. “It’s okay, I get it,” she responded softly. “She looks just like him… a carbon copy from what I’ve last seen, if I’m being honest.” Seven years ago Jughead would’ve been the age Jellybean is now, so it made sense.

“Don’t I know it,” FP chuckled proudly. He looked good. He sounded good. Betty could tell. “You’re here about the book, I assume. You found it.”

“I did,” Betty looked down to where she had it held. “Not going without an explanation about this, you know? So, Mr. Jones—”

“FP,” he corrected.

Batting her eyes downward, Betty said, “FP.” She paused. “As much as I’d love to catch up with you, before I lose what’s going on in my head right now, do you know where I can find him?”

FP smiled. He’s always loved Betty. Secretly, he still thinks those two are destined to be together forever. He was sure that no matter what happens, they’ll be together, even with all these years separated. _That was something he’s always kept to himself though._  “Check the Pembrooke,” he winked.

“Thank you,” Betty breathed before taking off, waving behind her back.

* * *

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

No answer.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Nothing.

_Knock. Knock—_

Just who she wanted to see.

To Betty’s luck, Jughead opened the door. Jughead’s face went pale as he stood in the middle of Archie and Veronica’s doorway. It was as if his eyes had landed on a ghost, because to him, that’s practically what he was looking at.

Seven years of nothing… no contact, whatsoever, and now she was here.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

The silence that came after those words were eery. Betty couldn’t let it cloud her mind though. She was here for a reason. Holding up his book, that he fucking dedicated to her, in her hands, she looked Jughead directly in the eye. “And what the fuck is this, Forsythe?”

At that, Jughead almost fainted.

She wasn’t supposed to find that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty and Jughead come face to face. What happens then? And what happens after?

_Holding up his book, that he fucking dedicated to her, in her hands, she looked Jughead directly in the eye. “And what the fuck is this, Forsythe?”_

_At that, Jughead almost fainted._

_She wasn’t supposed to find that._

“What the fuck is this?” Betty’s voice started to raise, shoving the book in his chest. Now she lost it. You’d think after seven years of not seeing the only man you’ve ever loved, the first meeting in so long would be different… but not under these circumstances. She wasn’t even able to admire how amazing he looked, that’s how fired up she was.  “What the fuck is this, Forsythe?” Betty repeated louder, hitting him in the chest again with it in attempts to push him further into the room.

Jughead backed up with each shove he got handed to him. His heart was beating at rates that he was sure would kill him. Here she was, the girl who completes and shatters his dreams all in one, screaming and hitting. He was distracted by her beauty though. The use of his birth name didn’t bother him because he was so shocked that she was here, in front of him. The way she matured was amazing. No more ponytails or cardigans… now she had her hair in pretty, natural waves and was dressed in white jeans and a baby blue, off-the-shoulder, long sleeve shirt. _Her shoulders. Oh, fuck._ He took a deep breath.  _No! No! No! She can’t be here. She can’t be here._

Sure, Jughead knew that Veronica and Archie were sitting on the couch only a few feet away, but he forgot now. Betty, on the other hand, who had no clue, never noticed.

“Jughead, fucking answer me!” Betty yelled. Tears were now welling in her eyes. She clenched her fists, not caring how bad it hurt when her nails dig into her skin. It was the release she needed. “What is this?” She held it in his face, pleading for a response. “Why wouldn’t you—”

Jughead looked at her. He just looked at her. She seemed so desperate and so angry and so confused. She probably was, he assumed. What he was suddenly feeling had to be stronger than what she was. It had been seven whole years since they’ve seen each other. If she really expects to waltz back in here without a warning and expect answers, well, she’s fucking wrong.

“Get out,” he said. Jughead’s voice wasn’t raised and it didn’t crack at all. It was steady and stern. He noticed Betty flinch at the words, but ignored how bad that hurt him to see. “Get out,” he repeated.

“You published it under Forsythe,” Betty said, ignoring what he was saying. “You used your real name.” Her voice too, was low now.

“Get the fuck out.” The crease above his brow became more pronounced. Now you could see the emotion.

Betty gulped before continuing. “You didn’t expect me to find it. I’m not as stupid as you fucking think.”

“Stop,” Jughead growled. He wasn’t looking at her. He couldn’t. If he did, he’d probably burst into a fit of tears.

“Why didn’t you answer my calls? Why didn’t you call me? I could've helped you with so much, Jughead. I would’ve been there for—” She was practically crying now.

“Enough!”

Betty pulled out the big guns now. She stepped forward, opening to the bookmarked page. “ _‘I love her so much, no matter what she’s done, and I always will,’_ ” she recited, showing him the page and saying the words off of memory. “What the fuck is that?” Betty laughed. “What have I done? I tried, Jughead!”

“You left! You fucking left at the worst fucking time!” Jughead screamed. “Now get the fuck out of here. I  _never_  want to see you again.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the door.

Betty grabbed the door handle, still not noticing the presence of Veronica and Archie. If she had, maybe it’d been different, but this made it more raw. “Fuck you then, Jughead.  _Fuck_  you.” A second later, she was storming out, slamming the door hard behind her.

Jughead stood there for what could’ve been five seconds or what could’ve been five hours. He didn’t know. All he knew is that she was here. His breath was heavy, unable to be controlled. Anxious and rageful and out of his fucking mind were how to describe him right now.

“Fuck,” he muttered, putting his head down. “Mother of fuck!” Jughead screamed, leaning on the wall and sinking to the floor. His fists pounded on the hardwood floor before he brought his hands up to cover his face. He was starting to breath unevenly, so he closed his eyes and focused on that.

All of a sudden, there was a scream from Veronica. “God, Jughead! Why do you have to be such an asshole?” She yelled before storming out after Betty, who was probably already halfway down the block by now.

Jughead squeezed his eyes shut tighter as he heard the door slam after Veronica left. Sure, maybe he did act like an asshole, but it wasn’t like it was undeserving. The was seven fucking years of pent up anger coming out. How could he hold back?

It wasn’t until Archie sank down next to Jughead that he remembered he wasn’t alone. Expecting his best friend to say something about Betty, he reluctantly turned his head toward him.

Archie let out a sigh before asking, “You real name is Forsythe?” Then he was snorting, falling onto the floor in a fit of laughter. “Dude, what the fuck type of name is that?” He laughed.

Jughead let out a breath. Well, at least Archie had it in him to be silly.

* * *

Veronica, in her Louboutin heels and her plaid pencil skirt, ran down the sidewalk, chasing Betty. “B, wait!” She yelled, seeing her back in the near distance. “Betty, please, wait one second.”

Betty stopped in her tracks at the sound of Veronica’s voice. Her shoulders were shaking, tears were running down her face; she was a complete mess. Veronica gathered her into her arms, hugging her tightly. “It’s okay,” Veronica whispered, not honestly understanding what she was so worked up about that made her come home and do this, but still showing support. “It’s okay.” She rubbed her best friend’s back. “You’re staying with me and Archie while your home, okay? But for now, we got to Pop’s and get fat on milkshakes… how’s that sound?”

Sniffling, Betty forced a chuckle. She wiped her tears onto her sleeve and nod. “That sounds good.”

Veronica called Smithers to have the pick them up and they were on their way. Betty stayed silent the whole ride there, and though the other girl was nosey and wanted to find out what the hell was going on, she adhered to Betty’s silence and did the same thing.

By the time they got to the diner, Betty’s tears were dried and she seemed more… at ease. When Pop saw them, he frowned, guessing the outcome of what came with hers and Jughead’s interaction. He quickly brought them their milkshakes and made sure to put it on the house.

“You alright?” Veronica asked, testing the waters before diving into all sorts of questions like she planned on doing.  

Betty sighed, looking out the window. She realized in that moment how badly she must’ve been ranging because in her few hours home, she didn’t even get the time to take in her town and appreciate all of her memories there. “You didn’t know he publish a book, did you?”

Veronica shook her head. When she heard and saw Betty going crazy over that book earlier, she was more than shocked. Of course she knew Jughead was an amazing, above average writer, but she never thought he’d grow the confidence to publish something of his own. “No, he didn’t tell us,” she echoed.  _Why wouldn’t he tell us?_

Betty pushed the book her way. “Read it and tell me what’d be going through your head if you were me.”

Veronica her pointer, middle, and runs finger on the book, gliding it closer to herself. She studied the outside first, impressed by the leather that blanketed around the pages and the lettering of the title and his name. It looked rustic and unique, like Jughead, himself. Quickly then, she flipped through the pages, not to read anything, but to see how long it was.  _This is a lot of pages, holy shit,_ she thought. Picking her head up, she looked at Betty’s distraught expression. She wanted to know it made her feel on the inside, not just what it made her…  _express_. “Did it— How did you—”

“I had to read it six or seven times, V,” Betty said, keeping her arms crossed. “I felt like I was going out of my fucking mind each time I read it over. He says all this stuff about how much he loves me, about how much he hates me, about how he’ll never, ever, ever move on,” she laid out. “But then goes on about how much he had to deal with  _alone_. Alone? Seriously? I fucming tried so hard to keep in contact with him. I called, I texted, I emailed. He’s the one who cut me off,” she babbled on, letting her anger resurface. “And he writes that and publishes and expects me not to fucking say something?” Her arms were flying all over the place, documenting how frazzled she was.

Veronica frowned. She’s talked to Betty nearly everyday since she left Riverdale seven years ago, and she knew, from the bottom of her heart, that she wasn’t living a lavishing life with happiness and giggles coming from left and right, but instead was just going through the motions. Of course, Betty loves her life there and she loves her job, but she was missing something. She’d deny it, but to anyone looking in, it was clear as day. Now, seeing her with this raw, deep emotion, she knew that Jughead could have been that source of happiness. Bad timing is truly a punch in the face sometimes.

Still though, trying to keep Betty at bay in a way that makes both sides seem equal, Veronica said, “He should have warned you, that was wrong of him. Honestly though, I don’t think he meant for you to find it.” She gave her a sympathetic look and reached out to rest her hand on her best friend’s forearm.

_Well, her hopes to keep things on an even level failed._

“Publish it under his real fucking name or not, I would’ve found it,” Betty scoffed, shaking her head. She felt her nails digging into her palms then and quickly retreated them in a manner that Veronica wouldn’t find suspicious.

“I know,” Veronica responded, even though she didn’t know. She didn’t know if this was because Betty was just scrolling through the bookstore or if she was looking. Either way, she was going to be a supportive best friend like she should me.

Then there was a silence between them. Betty’s eyes looking hallowed out and she was pale, clearly unfocused on anything around her. Veronica just watched, giving her time to unwind.

Eventually though, V said in a low whisper, “Hey.” She waited until Betty’s eyes met hers. “I missed you.”

Realization and alarm splattered all over Betty’s features. “Oh, my god,” she jumped up from her side of the booth to go hug Veronica. “I’m so sorry, I was so caught up in my head and how mad I am that I didn’t even think. Oh, god, I’m so happy to see you,” she hugged tightly, rocking them side to side.

“It’s okay, B,” Veronica laughed. “It’s not like we haven’t spoken in a while, I talk to you everyday.” She smiled. “It’s just nice to see my best friend in person again, you know?”

“I know.”

* * *

After Archie was done cackling at knowledge of his best friend’s real name, he clapped his hands together to show he was getting to business. “Okay, so, I was gonna say something about you publishing a book, but it doesn’t really surprise me,” he said.

Jughead snorted with annoyance and shook his head before retreating his face back into his knees. This was all so fucking ridiculous to him.  _Why the hell did she come back? She shouldn’t have._  He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to calm his unsteady breath. Be calm. Stay relaxed, he reminded himself.  

“So instead, I’m gonna tell you that you’re a dick, man,” Archie nodded, patting his best friend on the back. He didn’t seem to understand what was going on because, really, he didn’t. He was just saying what he sees from his perspective.

“Excuse me? How was I the dick when she just barged her way in like she’s been here forever?” Jughead spat, his eyes narrowing. “News flash,” he chuckled wickedly. “She hasn’t been. She’s been living under the bright lights and tall buildings of New York fucking City.” He was on his feet now, frustratedly pacing back and forth. It was clear that he was distraught. But honestly, it’d be impossible to really pinpoint how he was feeling from an outsider’s view. I felt like he had gone back to drowning. Her being her made him want to cry and scream and fight, but he had to hold it all in. It was going to be hard, but he had to try. This fit of arguing was nothing compared to what he could do.

“Dude,” Archie pulled himself to his feet to reach Jughead’s level. “That line she read? I’d be giving an reaction too. I don’t even know what you wrote about, but you are dramatic as hell, I’m sure it was enough to cause this,” he explained, trying to make this all an understanding.

Jughead’s eyes were wide as he looked at Archie with a scowl on his face. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he angrily laughed. “You’re taking  _her_  side?  _Her_  side?” He couldn’t even say her name. “After all—”

“After all she put you through,” Archie recited, having heard it a hundred times before. “Ever think of what you put her through?” He ignored the threatening look in Jughead’s eye and continued. “You're my best friend, man. I know it was shitty these past… um,  _seven_ … years, I do. She’s my best friend too though. I’m not taking sides where it’s not necessary,” he said. “You should just talk to her—”

“Fuck this,” Jughead gritted out. “Fuck you. Fuck her.” He was practically fuming out the ears, but his insides were turning in all sorts of terrible, unhealthy ways. As Archie shook his head, Jughead stormed out of the apartment, making sure to slam the door on his way.

“Dramatic motherfucker,” Archie said to himself about his best friend. He truly was a dramatic motherfucker.

* * *

Betty tossed and turned in the bed that Veronica and Archie provided for her that night. Guilt was trembling under her skin. She felt guilty for showing up here on such a rampage without any sort of warning. She felt guilty for leaving Jughead behind seven years ago, and prompting him to write this book with so much emotion. She feels guilty for not knowing what’s going on in his life right now. There’s a lot of questions and apologies that she has, but she’s expecting that she’ll have to suppress them. After today, Jughead will probably never speak to him again.

She would never do something like this… just pick up and leave without a plan. It was completely unlike the Betty Cooper that she was raised to be. She was all-together and organized, not sporadic and unorderly. Something about Jughead Jones though… he always managed to throw her for a loop.

Anyhow, she was so perturbed by her own actions that she was ready to pull her hair out. She home and decided against going to see her family. _What type of daughter does that make me? What type of sister?_  Her only excuse was that she didn’t want to be degraded and critiqued. She didn’t want to hear her sister telling her how ‘stupid’ it was of her to leave Riverdale for the city. She didn’t feel like being brought down, and it was understandable.

Closing her eyes despite of all she was feeling, she tried to sleep.

Whatever she had to deal with, she’ll deal with it tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead handles things his own way, while Veronica treats Betty to shopping spree. They both feel pretty horrible though. Do they get to talk again, in a more civilized manner?

FP sat on the couch in silence for about four hours or so while his son was at the trailer. Even Jellybean knew to keep her mouth shut. They tiptoed around everything they were doing. What else were they supposed to do? He was slamming doors, throwing things when they were in his way, muttering unholy curse words under his breath. It wasn’t until he completely let go and broke down that he was confronted.

They found him in his childhood bedroom with the typewriter he got she got him for Christmas one year, the copy of  _In Cold Blood_  that Betty bought for him, love letters that she used to write to him as kids, and pictures of them from the time they were in preschool to the day of graduation all sprawled out around his sheets. He was curled up between everything, lightly weeping into the fabric of his flannel. It was such a soft cry that it was barely audible, but this was Jughead Jones. He hadn’t cried for four years, at least that’s what people think. Before that, for three years after Betty left, he’d weep and mope and cry, but one day it stopped. Four years later, here he was again.

Jellybean had a deep frown forming on her face. She crawled up onto his bed, carefully shifting some of his, so called, ‘Betty belongings’ out of the way so she could be close enough to rub his back. FP just stood in the doorway, feeling his heart clench in the most saddening ways for the pain his son was feeling. If he was being honest, he figured Betty was probably feeling the same sort of thing right now.

“Why’d she have to come back?” Jughead shamelessly choked out, having no willpower to stop himself. “Why? Why? I was getting better,” he forced himself to say.  _What does he mean by getting better?_  Not Jellybean nor FP knew what that meant, but they let it go for now. “I was trying so hard. I was trying not to think of her, and now she’s here.” He held his face in his hands, refraining from pulling at his hard. “God, this is so bad.”

FP tentatively stepped forward. “Jughead, maybe you need to talk to her,” he suggested. He definitely noticed how his son’s whole body tensed at that. “Whether it fixes things or not, it could give you some clarity” He ignored the glare his daughter sent him him for saying that. She was young still, she didn’t know how much this could actually help him…  _if he could manage to control his temper._

Jughead knew his father was right. It’d be the mature thing to do, it really would, he just didn’t feel ready. Then again, would he ever be? This is bigger than himself. This was the girl who built him up and broke him down. She did it all to him, and he just didn’t know if he could face her. It was so much to handle, especially with what he’s been going through lately… the anxiety that he’s hid from everyone for so, so long. If he was face to face with her, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to control it  _or_   _have time to run out of dodge before anyone sees him in panic mode._

“Just… Just, go, alright? It’s whatever. She’ll leave in a few days and it’ll all go back to normal.” Jughead wiped the wet stains on his cheeks before turning to his family. “Just go,” he looked at them each.

They each nodded and retreated out of the bedroom, leaving him. He looked around at the item sprawled our around the bed and then looked into the mirror. He winced when he saw his tear-ridden, red-rimmed eyes and his puffy, pink cheeks. He felt the anxiety and hate that he felt towards himself bubbling towards the surface.

_Goddamn, I am such a fucking bitch._

_Why am I like this?_

_What happened to me?_

The solitude was right, in this moment here and in any moments to come. He curled up, bunching his hair into his hands as he felt the walls start to close in around him. His shortened breaths got worse, and suddenly all he could see was black.

* * *

Betty woke up completely unaware of her surroundings. In a panic, without thinking, she jumped up to her feet. Just then though, Veronica came strutting in without even a knock. At least, it gave Betty a peace of mind as to where she was. Honestly, how could she forget after yesterday though?

“Good morning,” Veronica chirped in a sing-song voice, twirling around and showing her gorgeous, silky set of royal blue colored pajamas. She looked happy as ever and also, very prepared for something that Betty had no clue of with a small kit full of hair styling equipment in her hands and a big scrunchy on her wrist.

“Morning,” Betty replied, stepping backwards to sit on the bed again. She cocked an eyebrow at all the supplies that Veronica had in tow. “What’s all that?”

Veronica beamed at her and hopped up on the bed. “ _I_ am doing your hair,” she said, clapping her hands. “And then we are getting really cute and going shopping!” Her smile could’ve been contagious in this moment, but not to Betty. “With Daddy’s credit card, of course,” she then added.

In return, Betty granted her friend a weak, yet tight, smile. “V, I’m really grateful for the offer, but I just have so much to deal with. I’m gonna have to be getting back to New York City by Monday morning, and there’s just so much I feel like I have to do… I mean, if Jughead will even talk to me—”

“Oh, yes! How is it working at the Wall Street Journal? You do have a permanent position now, right?” Veronica asked, ignoring Betty’s statement about having other things to besides shopping. She even continued taking some stuff out of the kit.

“I-It’s great,” Betty muttered. She reached out to place a hand on Veronica’s wrist. “V,” she said softly, giving sad eyes. “Can we make a rain check for the next time you visit?” Her eyes were soft and hopefully.

When Veronica looked up, she looked like she was feeling anything but agreeable. “B,” she said, grabbing her hand. “I will not let you chase that boy around and mope over something that you were not able to control. I love him like a brother, but good god, he was an asshole yesterday—”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have yelled ‘fuck you’ in his face,” Betty interrupted, letting her eyes roam elsewhere as she hazily thought about their dreaded interaction. The sound of him yelling for her to  _get out_  echoed in her eardrums, making her slightly tense.

“Beside the point,” Veronica continued. “If I have Arch tell him you’re leaving by Monday, I’m sure he’ll come to his senses and come running to find you by tonight or tomorrow. You are not dwelling on this on your visit home though, understand? Once he comes from you is when you demand your answers,” she said, clicking her tongue.

Betty raised her eyebrows. “You must’ve read the book if you’re saying that I should  _demand_  answers.” She shook her head. “You’ll think he’ll really talk to me though? Even after my… uh,  _outburst_  yesterday?”

“I do,” Veronica said, squeezing her best friend’s hand. “And yes, I did read the book. Wonderful writer, honestly, but like I said before, he should’ve warned you. I’d be freaking the fuck out too if I was you,” she said, making Betty nod thankfully. “Now we are getting ready for our girl’s day,” she shimmied excitedly. Betty rolled her eyes but laughed anyway. She could use some fun.

* * *

The two girls shopped for hours. Betty tried and tried and tried to seem like she wasn’t distracted, but she knew she was failing. Thanks to her best friend though, what was distracting her was never brought up. They each just ignored it and continued on.

Veronica made everything about Betty, of course. With the blessing of Hiram Lodge’s credit card, she bought her friend new skirts, new sweaters, new dresses… and more. Betty opposed most of the items, but Veronica insisted that she needed this. Who was Betty to dispute that?

By the time they were finished though, Betty could not seem to get that nagging feeling away from her. She’d been gone for so long, and just wanted to be updated on life around Riverdale…  _his_  life around Riverdale.

Adding onto that, as Smithers drove them back to the Pembrooke, Betty saw Toni and Cheryl outside of the grocery store with a cart in front of them. She noted the Serpent jacket that hug on the pink haired girl and raised an eyebrow. “Huh,” Betty started nonchalantly. “Never thought I’d see Cheryl Blossom walking out of a grocery store,” she chuckled. Honestly though, just from that little glance she got it he, she seemed happy, which was nice.

“Toni Topaz really changed her for the better,” Veronica informed her.

“Speaking of…”  Betty prompted trying to sound calm and collected. Veronica rolled her eyes, seeming unsurprised, like she knew what she was about to say. “The Serpents? What ever happened with Jughead and them?” She tried to fight off the memory of their life together before he left. Some of that Serpent shit got so, so, so bad. Some of their arguments over still haunted her dreams, how he’d crawl up the ladder to her bedroom bloodied and bruised. God, it was so horrible. She tried so hard to ignore that memory.

Veronica uncomfortably looked down to her hands. She had expected Betty to ask if anything ever happened between him and Toni. “Uh, B,” she said softly. “That’s a conversation you’ve gotta have with him,” she offered weakly.

“I-Is he still involved?” Betty’s voice shook. Veronica’s response worried her a little bit.

“I’m sorry, B,” Veronica frowned. “You really have to talk to him about this.” She would do anything for her best friend, yes, but Jughead had also grown to be as close as a brother to her. She couldn’t betray his trust over something like this, something that was  _very_  private.

Betty gulped and nodded, clenching her fists. “I understand. It’s okay.”

* * *

Walking back to Veronica and Archie’s apartment, Betty heard the redhead’s voice from down the hall. It sounded like he was shouting and laughing, so the girls figured that he was alone and  _probably_  playing video games.

With their shopping bags in tow, Veronica unlocked the door and pushed it open. Before she could stop Betty from entering after who she saw, she was already dropping her bags and stepping inside.

There he was.

Jughead was sitting on the floor with a PlayStation controller in his hands. The way he was sitting made him look like a little boy. It made Betty’s heart clench. On the other side of things though, he looked  _terribly_  sexy as fuck. His black, curly hair was disheveled, covering his eyes, which were squinting in concentration. He was only wearing jeans and a white tank top, showing his tattooed arm sleeve that Betty did not know he had. It made his toned arms look ten times better, if that was even possible. It was not good for her, seeing him looking this good. _Fuck,_ she thought.

Breaking the moment of Betty’s dazed thoughts, Veronica cleared her throat as a way to get the boys’ attention. “Archiekins,” she said to her long-time beau. “Help us with our bags?”

Jughead jumped up in a flash, turning his body so that Betty wouldn’t see the tattoos. She wondered why he’d hide them or if she was simply seeing them. He slid his jacket back on and looked at Archie saying, “I’m out,” before practically beelining for the door.

Betty’s shoulders dropper in defeat. “Jughead, can we just—” The door was being slammed before she could finish the sentence. Just like that, he was gone.  “Goddamnit!” Betty yelled. She stood there for about thirty seconds before deciding to follow him outside.

Why did this have to be so complicated?

To her complete surprise, when she opened the door, he was still standing there. “Can we please talk?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty tells her side of the story. What does she find out about Jughead though? And how does it affect her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Explicit Content
> 
> _Please take into account that I still do not think I’m very good at writing any sort of sexual content, so if it sucks, I apologize :) ___

_“Jughead, can we just—” The door was being slammed before she could finish the sentence. Just like that, he was gone.  “Goddamnit!” Betty yelled. She stood there for about thirty seconds before deciding to follow him outside._

_Why did this have to be so complicated?_

_When she opened the door, he was still standing there. “Can we please talk?”_

Jughead let out a breathy laugh. “Fuck,” is all he said before sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. He never really answered her question. He took a deep breath, realizing that he felt no panic attacks coming. He might just be okay. Not looking at her then, he said, “Don’t you have some boyfriend back in New York City to get back to?”

“Fuck you,” Betty snapped, not being able to control herself. “Goddamnit. Sorry,” she scoffed. “But no.” She paused, whispering “Asshole,” under her breath. “Now can we please talk?”

“Well?”

Betty gulped, not really know where the hell she should start. So, ultimately, she decided to slide down the wall opposite of him and sit so they were facing each other. Though his gaze wasn’t on her, hers was on him, meticulously studying everything about him.  _God, he’s so beautiful it hurts._  Testing the waters, she said, “Uh… well… how’ve you been?”

Jughead snorted and shook his head. “How have I been?” His voice was full of arrogance. Honestly though, he couldn’t even fathom that she just asked that. “Wow, really getting to the point with that one, Betts,” he said, silently cursing himself for allowing the nickname to roll of his tongue like that.

“Straight to the point, right,” Betty whispered, looking down. She inhaled, trying to keep herself calm rather than getting all heated up like she did yesterday. “That book…” She paused, feeling too scared to continue. “W-Why did you act like I just gave up on us?” Tears started to prickle behind her eyes, but she held back. “I know we broke up, but I tried to get ahold you every  _single_  day for almost four months. I left, yes, and I know that with what you were going through that it was really fucking shitty of me, but you can’t say I didn’t fucking try,” she gritted out. There was so much  _emotion_  in her words.

Jughead finally looked at her. Her bottom lip was trembling, but like the Betty Cooper that he always knew, she tried to put on a strong face. She looked so pretty. She always did, but the way her curled, blonde hair was half up-half down with that little pink bow in the back made him want to wrap her up and tell her how fucking cute she was. Obviously, he couldn’t do jay. He gulped as his eyes met her watery, shiny green ones.  _So much fucking emotion._

Since he didn’t say anything, rather just stared, Betty kept going. Yet again, it was as if something erupted in her. “What else was I supposed to do? You’d come to me every night with a new bruise. You’d come to me every night bloodier and bloodier. When you came home with your own gun? I barely even believed it,” she echoed a sad laugh. “Don’t you understand what stress that put me under? I was fucking dying everyday at the thought that you might not be there to hold me at night, but I held on as tight as I could, Jug. It was when you said that  _I_  was the reason you were doing the things you were… that you were doing it to protect  _me_. So I left. I’d rather be alone, hours away from everyone, than have you get shot or some bad shit like that. So  _I am sorry_ that I hurt you enough to blame every fucking thing on me, but I am  _not_  sorry for trying to keep you safe and trying to crawl myself out of the fucking gutter. I was drowning. I was scared. I needed something that would help me  _flourish_. You didn’t see that though,” she shook her head. “It’s not my fault you never picked up the phone. Maybe we’d be together today if you did, but that is not on me. I tried. You didn’t.” Her voice was weak and shaky. Her fists were clenched tightly too… but there was nothing else she could do.

Jughead didn’t say anything to what she had said. Instead, with a trembling voice, he practically sobbed, “Your fingers. Please, don’t do that.” He was looking at her curled up hands. “Please, Betty. I don’t want to be the reason that you do that. Please.” His tone was desperate… begging.

A tear dropped from Betty’s cheek at the sound of his voice. She didn’t even realize she was doing that, but he did. Of course, he did.

Betty flattened her palms out before turning them upward so she could see the damage she caused. It was minimal, just indentations, but you could clearly see the scars that were there from the ghost of the past. It made her want to cry.

When she moved her gaze back to him, his head was in his hands. Betty let out a breath. If he wasn’t going to give any sort of explanation, at least she got hers out, and at least she knew he still cared about her.

At least it was something.

Pulling herself to her feet and wiping the tears off her cheeks, Betty let out a breath. “You know where I am if you need me,” she whispered and re-entered the apartment.

Archie and Veronica were pushed back when the door opened, clearly showing they had their ears to the wood, trying to listen. Once Betty was in then, and it was shut, she broke down. She was sobbing and trying to breathe, but it was all she could do. All she could do was cry. Archie and Veronica sat with her, wrapping her in their arms.

She cried for more than one reason.

But she also realized something…

Years after years, after all this time, Betty Cooper was still very much in love with Jughead Jones.

* * *

Later that day, when it was getting closer to dinner time, Betty was laying on the couch with her head rested on Archie’s shoulder. She was thankful that he was being so generous to her. Then again, they were best friends. She’d be doing the same for him.

“Can I ask you something?” Betty whispered, not fully trusting her voice when talking about Jughead.

“Of course,” Archie said, tilting his head down to look at her. Her brows were creased and her face looked all around worried. It hurt him to know how much pain his two best friends were feeling. They didn’t deserve it. Yet, it also amazed him that after all this time, fighting or not fighting, there was still a clear connection between them. He hoped, so deeply, that they’ll soon realize it too.

Betty exhaled. “Did he ever talk about me? You know, like after I left?” Her voice was uncertain as she asked the question.

“Oh, my god, Betty,” Archie started, leaning his head back on the couch for a moment. “All he did was talk about you,” he answered. “One time I caught him praying that you were living your best life in the city. Have you ever known Jughead Jones to  _pray_?” Betty shook her head, shocked at what Archie said. “Normally, he’d just cry over you and mope around, but yes, he talked about you a lot… whether it be good or bad.” Tightening his grip around his best friend’s shoulders, he assured her, “He’s always cared about you so much. I know it’s been tough, but don’t forget that, okay?”

Betty gulped.  _Jughead prayed for me._ That was something she may never be able to wrap her mind around. The crying and the moping shocked her a bit too, especially because of the face that he was a tough gang member who always had a hard facade. Back in those days, he only ever really got emotional  _with_  her.

She knew he cared about her. He always had. She still had questions though. “Why did he just give up? I know I’ve said it over and over but, I tried so hard, Arch.” Tears pricked the back of her eyes, once again. “I tried so fucking hard and he just let it go. Why did he just let it go?” As her voice cracked, she closed her eyes, leaning into Archie’s shoulder.

Archie sighed sadly. “I know it seems like he did, but he didn’t give up completely.” To that, Betty lifted her head, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “He went to NYC… a few times actually.” He was frowning now. “I don’t know what he did there, but his plan was to find you. I guess he freaked out or something, but he  _tried_  to try, if you know what I mean,” he said softly. Betty nodded, blinking rapidly. “Back when you worked for that small news firm, I’d find screenshots of your work on his phone. And now, ever since you started at the Wall Street Journal, I’ve been catching him reading your articles.” Betty’s heart was beating now. “I guess he’s never really grown the balls to do something about it, but he’s never let you go.”

“W-Why didn’t I—”

Archie knew what she was going to say. “You didn’t know because you and Jughead are our best friends. We weren’t going to give up that type of information unless it was wanted. I know Ronnie’s honoring that and I know I’m kinda going against that right now, but you needed to know that he’s never given up.”

Betty stayed silent for a moment, allowing everything to process. Once it did, she winced at the way she talked to him. “Oh, shit,” she groaned. “Now I look like a bitch.” She covered her face with her hands.  

Archie smiled weakly. “It’s okay, Betty,” he said. “Believe me, he gets it. I know he does. You were left in the dark, and even though he’s not acting like it, he knows that.”

“Yeah,” Betty whispered. “Yeah.”

“Guys!” Veronica interrupted the moment. “Dinner!”

* * *

Betty thought about Jughead as she laid in bed. She pushed away the memories of breaking down today after their  _one-sided_ conversation. This time it wasn’t sad or angry thoughts. This time she was picturing what he looked like in that white tank top earlier and how fucking hot he looked. She pictured what it would have been like if he found her in New York City…  _a romantic version of what could’ve happened._

The apex of her thighs was aching at the thought of him. She remembered how he used to touch her, how he used to kiss almost every square inch of her bare body before they went to sleep. My lord, she would do anything to feel that again. To feel him between her legs is a memory she’s been holding onto since they day she left.

She wondered how much better he’d be now, if it was possible. He’s stronger now, more mature.

_Oh, shit. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

She was aching. So, to fix her problem, she slipped her hand beneath the waistline of her pajama pants.  _I won’t be long,_ she told herself. Pushing her lacy underwear and checkered pajama pants down a little bit, she let out a sigh at the feel of the cold air on her core.

Carefully, as if it was a sin, she slid her fingers between her folds, feeling each part of herself. Just of thought of him already had her dripping. “Oh, my god,” she whispered to herself, surprised at how bad she  _needed_  to be touched.

Thinking back seven years, she tried to work her fingers in the way that he did. You’d think it’d be hard to remember, but it wasn’t. She remembered everything about him. She circled her clit, creating the warmth that had her writhing under her own touch, while the fingers on other hand dipped into her opening. The pressure of her fingers pumping in and out made whimper as her back arched.

This was the only way she ever got any pleasure.

She was right about not taking long, because after only a few short minutes of her working her fingers into her heat and around her bundle of nerves, she was coming undone onto her hand.

It was quite embarrassing actually, even to herself, how fast she came to her release. She blamed Jughead’s new and improved bod for that one though.

Betty then decided to talk a shower and think about what the hell she has to do next.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty is determined to find Jughead. His anxiety is worsening as the day goes on, so when she walks into the one place he never wanted to see her, what happens? Can Betty help Jughead?

Jughead woke up from a half-assed type of sleep, feeling like he was a ticking time bomb. He has always known it was going to be a bad day when he woke up with a clenching, uneasy feeling in his chest… and right now it was worse than ever.

He laid in bed later than usual, simply trying to calm his unsettling nerves, but nothing seemed to work. Eventually, he got out of bed. He couldn’t even manage to pour himself a bowl of cereal without shaking.

Needing some normalcy, he decided to take a drive to the trailer and leave this God forbidden apartment. He bought it a few years ago to start claiming his own life, but hell, if that worked. Now, the only reason he ever really came here was to sleep. Barely anyone even knew he owned his own place.

As he arrived at his father’s trailer, he was thanking whatever heavenly being there was for his subconscious. He barely knew how he got here without crashing. He was too spaced to pay attention, so he was quite thankful.

Before he even entered the trailer, Jellybean came storming out. “Screw this! I am not coming home tonight,” she spat out at her father, who seemed to have no idea what was going on. “And screw you too,” she yelled at Jughead.

The two Jones men watched as Jellybean stormed away. Once she was out of sight, Jughead turned to FP. “What?” His father said in confusion. “I don't know what I did now.” Jughead didn’t respond, rather pushed passed his dad and into the trailer.

The second he really took in his son’s face, FP knew something wasn’t right. He tried asking if he was okay, but Jughead blew it off. Again, he was  _highly_  agitated at the most pointless things. A string of curse words would fall from his lips for absolutely no reason. He’d pause what he’s doing and just lean over, as if to catch his breath, out of nowhere. His hands were so shaky that he couldn’t even hold up the remote controller. FP had no clue what the hell was going on.

“Boy,” FP called out wearily. The shakiness made his mind flash to… _is he on drugs?_  It was a horrid thought, but then he realized that this was Jughead, he was talking about. He wouldn’t be that dumb. “What’s up with you,” is what he settled for asking.

Jughead picked up his keys. “I’m going out,” he announced, ignoring his father’s question.

“Where?”

“Out!”

FP thought about following him, simply to check on his son’s wellbeing, but decided against it. Jughead was an adult, after all. If things were really bad, he’d talk about it…  _right?_

* * *

Betty was on a mission this morning, but she had to do things the right way. In a way that made everyone happy… which involved Pop’s.

She cheerily entered the diner with a smile on her face. “Morning, Pop,” she beamed. “Can I get my regular and Jughead’s regular to go, please?”

“Jughead’s regular, huh?” Pop wiggled his eyebrows, smiling. “Progress has been made, I’m guessing?”

Betty sighed, trying to find the right answer. “Well,” she paused. “I’m trying.” She paused. “I think I’m getting somewhere.” Pop smiled and gave her his well wishes.

Once the food was ready, she was on her way to Sunnyside Trailer Park. Betty was practically praying that he was here. She had a lot that she wanted to talk to him about, obviously. If he wanted to fight, she’ll fight. If he wanted to laugh, she’ll laugh. She’ll do literally anything just to have a real conversation with him. 

She does have his favorite meal though, so maybe he won’t want to fight.

Butterflies erupted in her stomach as she approached the trailer, making her feel like a little girl. Shaking it off, she knocked, waiting for the door to be opened.

“Betty!” FP greeted her with a smile on his face. “How are you?”

Betty smiled weakly. “I’m… I’m doing alright, Mr. Jon— FP,” she corrected herself before he had the chance to. Holding the bags up then, she raised an eyebrow. “Jug around?”

FP frowned. “Uh, I think he’s at the Wyrm,” he said sadly. “He was a—”

“The Whyte Wyrm?” Betty asked, blown up eyes and creased brows. This was the first she was hearing of Jughead and the Serpents. It worried her to extreme levels. FP cocked his head at the question, seeming confused as to  _why_  she’d ask. “Is he still,” she gulped, “involved?”

Now, FP understood. Someone must’ve been keeping this from her. “Honey,” he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Who do you think took my place?”

Betty’s whole body tensed at that.  _Jughead is the Serpent king._  It was certainly something that should’ve been understandable and easy to believe, but not for Betty. She was hit was a shit ton of shock. After all the issues it had caused for him years ago, how could he continue? How could he take this leadership position?

FP frowned as he watched the blood drain from her face. Ever since he got out of jail and found out his son had become a Serpent, he always noticed how scared Betty was for Jughead’s well-being. Things were different now though. “If you’re worried about his safety, I can assure you he really changed things for them.”

“H-how?”

“No more drugs,” FP said. “I tried when I was in charge, but I guess my son is a little more persuasive than me. He ran them out. He also ran the Ghoulies out, so no more violence either… at least not really. He tries his hardest to keep them away from the bad shit,” he told her, not wavering his voice. “He’s been good for them, Betty… really, really good.”

Betty gulped. “I’m going to find him,” she said then, strong-willed as she is.

Just before she was about to say her goodbye and thanks to FP, Jellybean stormed into the trailer. FP raised his eyebrows. “Thought you were pissed off?” He asked his daughter.

“I  _am_ ,” Jellybean spat, not explaining why she was home. “What is  _she_  doing here?” She pointed, but didn’t look at Betty, who literally rolled her eyes.

“Don’t worry, Jelly—”

“JB.”

“Don’t worry,  _JB._ I’m just leaving,” Betty said. “Here,” she handed FP the bags of food from Pop’s. “You guys eat up. I am going to find Jughead,” she spoke matter of factly. “Have a good day.”

Before Betty could get to the door, her ex-boyfriend’s father called out to her. “He’s a little off today,” he warned.

“That’s okay,” Betty said softly. She’ll take him anyway he is.

* * *

Sweet Pea and Toni sat on the stools by the bar, scanning Jughead’s every move. “Is he okay?” Toni asked, following his frantic paces.

Cheryl approached them then, pulling the empty stool closer to her girlfriend. “Clearly he’s insane,” she snickered. “I’ve been saying it since we were children.”

“He’s not insane, Cher,” Toni corrected, rolling her eyes at her along with Sweet Pea. She loved her to death, but oh, boy, could she be a piece of work sometimes. “Something has definitely got his panties in a twist though.”

Sweet Pea thought for a moment. “Something other than Betty being in town?”

“Who knows?”

As if on cue, the doors of the bar swung open and in walked Betty Cooper. She was dressed in a dark pair of jeans and cream colored, long, yet fitting sweater with her makeup done nicely and her down in loose waves. She was a Cooper woman after all, and it was shown in her strut and confident expression. She looked ready for business.

Sweet Pea and Toni jumped in front of her before she could get to Jughead, crossed arms and all. “Looky looky what we have here,” Toni said with an edge in her voice. If looks could kill, Betty would probably be dead. Not that she wasn’t returning it.

“The runaway has returned,” Sweet Pea snarled. He eyed her up and down in the rudest way.

Betty looked at Jughead’s two right hand Serpents. “Toni,” she greeted. “Sweet Pea,” she nodded at him too. “I’m not here to cause issues. I wanna talk to Jug.”

Sweet Pea snorted. “Over my dead fucking body.” He was here to protect Jughead, and the one thing that could truly ruin him was this girl right here.

“Oh, dear cousin,” Cheryl walked over, heels clicking and hips swaying. “How’s the Big Apple treating you? Think I should make my runway debut there?” She brought Betty in for a very forced hug. Honestly though, she didn’t sound rude… she sounded rather genuine.

Betty nodded. “You’d love it there,” she responded. Cheryl clicked her tongue in agreement. “Now, I would like to find—”

Just as she started to push through everyone, Sweet Pea stuck anhand out. “You’re fucking crazy, y’know that?”

“Enough!” A loud boom echoed the bar from Jughead’s hand slamming on the bar. “Enough,” he repeated. When Betty looked at him, she saw the tiredness and anxiety in his feature and she hoped he was okay. Before she could dwell more on it, he spoke again. “No one fucking talks to her that way,” he gritted out, causing Toni and Sweet Pea to step back and away from her.

For some reason, Jughead’s assertive and frustrated tone fired him up, along with making her heart clench. It was quite the variety of feelings. “So they can’t talk to me like that, but you can?” Betty sassed, unable to hold the words back. 

Jughead gave her a menacing look, one that silence her right away. “Come here,” he said, stepping away from the nosey Serpents. She followed him into the corner, smirking at Sweet Pea and Toni as she passed them. “What are you doing here? How’d you know I was here?” His voice was shaky and his eyes were all over the place, seeming unable to focus on one singular thing.

“Your dad told me.”

“Well,  _what_  are you doing here?” Now his voice rose. Jughead felt like a ticking time bomb right now.

“Thought you were done coming around here anymore?” She asked, motioning around the bar. Her voice was not sounding judgemental, but rather curious. Jughead took it the worse way.

“Thought you didn’t come around Riverdale anymore?” Jughead spat back. His agitation getting the best of him.

Betty furrowed her brows. Why did he make her so fucking angry? For what felt like the hundredth time, she rudely chuckled, “Fuck you.”

Jughead cackled just once. “Is that an insult or a to-do list?” He tilted his head at her. It wasn’t like he didn’t notice the lust in her eyes when she saw him yesterday… the way she was staring at his arms and chest. Either way, he immediately wanted to take what he said back. His skin was already crawling in stress, now he could add guilt to it too. “Sorry,” he put his head down. “But what did you come here for, Betty?” He asked, his voice how lower, but more cracky.

Betty exhaled, shifting on her feet. She really couldn’t get angry at him. She understood why, for the last few days, he was being so… apprehensive,  _might she say._ Plus, now, she might as well get right to the point. That’s what he’s wanted anyway, isn’t it? “Why didn’t you tell me you went to the city all those times? Or that you kept up with my articles?” She was trying so hard to keep her voice steady.

But Jughead was fucking trembling.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me about this? About you being the  _new and improved_ Serpent King or whatever?” Her voice was soft yet concerned. It was clear that she just wanted to know. That’s who she was. She wanted to know everything, always… especially with him. It’s been so long, and she just really wanted to know everything. She’d deal with the guiltiness of missing it all later.

Jughead felt his body shutting down. He understood what Betty was asking him, but just barely. It almost sounded like white noise. Instead of her eyes looking like the bright orbits of emerald green that they were, they looked blurry and grayish. He couldn’t function.

_Not now, please. Fuck, fuck, fuck._

His brain wasn’t even processing enough that he realized what he was about to say would sound extremely rude. “Uh. Yeah, yeah. B-Be right ba-back,” he choked through his unsteady breath and followed the path that he knew off the back of his head into the back hallway.

Stupid fucking anxiety attacks.

Betty stood in awe. She had no clue of what he was going through, so she understood it as him simply blowing her off. “What the fuck?” She shook her head, shocked as to what he just did. She was asking him serious, heartfelt questions, and he just walked away… so, what the hell?

Slightly embarrassed. Extremely astounded. Overly confused.

It wasn’t until she heard Cheryl shouting, “Will one of you goddamn stupid, incompetent involents go get Betty! My god,” that she snapped out of her haze. That’s when she also heard everyone’s staggered whispers and Toni’s frantic shouts.

Before anyone could even come find her, she was running to where there were. “What? What?” She asked nervously, not having a clue of what was happening as she pushed through the crowd of leather. “Can you people fucking move, please?”

“What’s happening?” Sweet Pea asked her as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the crowd to see Jughead curled up on the floor.

He was shaking, crying, and hyperventilating. He was in responsive to everyone calling his name.

“Is he having a seizure?” Someone in the large group of Serpents yelled. It went ignored though.

Betty recognized the signs all too well. “Panic attack,” she told them. She’s been there before, which is how she knew what she was seeing. Seeing him— Jughead— like this hurt her heart.

“Do something!” Toni yelled at Betty. She had already tried, as had Sweet Pea. As unfortunate as she thought it to be, if Jughead was going to snap out of his because of someone, it’d be beside of her.

She was already on it though before Toni even finished her words.

Betty crouched down to the floor, scooting herself as close as she could to Jughead. She was shaking herself, fearing for his well being. Has he been through this before? Is this new?  _Did_  I  _bring this on?_  She was so scared, but she had to help him. She had to.

“Juggie,” Betty said softly, trying to fight the tears that prickled behind her eyes. When he didn’t answer, she gently grabbed onto his forearms. He flinched at first touch, but the second time, there was no reaction. “Juggie, can you hear me?” No response.  _“Okay, okay,”_ she whispered under her breath.

Very carefully, she pulled his hands away from his face and helped sit him up straight. Just from the way she was moving him, his subconscious followed the actions, for which she was grateful. Now that his face was uncovered, she cupped his cheeks in her hands and leaned their foreheads together.

“Fuck,” she whispered. She was so fucking scared right now.

_Keep going, Betty. You can do this._

“Jug, I know you can hear me,” she said softly, but loud enough for him to hear over his staggered breaths and violent cries. She repeated that over and over again until he started to stir.

“No, no,” Jughead choked out.

Betty nodded, grasping him a little harder. “Good! Good, you got it, okay? Now open your eyes, baby,” she asked of him, not realizing what she just called him. It was like an instinct. “Look at me, Juggie. It’s only me,” she promised. “Let me see your eyes, please.” It took some work, but he did open his eyes eventually. “You got it. See that,” she praised.

“I can’t do it,” he shook his head, babbling out anything negative that he could. It felt like everything was crumbling underneath his touch.

Betty shook her head. “Yes, you can, Juggie. You always can,” she said so sincerely. If he was aware of what was going on, he would’ve had to believe it just from the way she said it. Reaching for his hand, she placed it directly over her heart.  _Go through the motions, Betty. Follow the steps,_ she kept reminding herself. “You feel my heartbeat?” Jughead nodded. She inched there faces closer again so he was able to feel her breath. This step was extra, but it had worked for her in the past. “Feel my breath?” He nodded. “We’re gonna get you to match mine, okay?”

“I can’t,” he cried.

“You can,” she promised. “Each breath I take, you take, okay? I’ll count to ten after each one until you calm down,” she told him, not sure if he even understood what she was saying. “Ready?”

“No, no.”

“Yes, you are,” Betty exhaled against his skin. “After taking a deep breath, she counted, “One.” Then another, “Two.” Jughead was trying, but not catching on. “Come on, you’re almost with me.”

Slower this time, they started together.  _One. Two. Three…_ Each set of ten, it was sensible that he was relaxing just a bit. It took three whole times for him to really even out.

“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. Oh, my god. I’m so sorry,” Jughead cried into Betty’s neck, wrapping her in a tight embrace. “Please don’t leave. I never want you to leave. I’m sorry, Betty. Just stay. Please, stay.”

Betty couldn’t fathom what she was hearing. He was holding onto her so, so tightly and she just kind of sat there limply with her arms around him, processing. She knew he still wasn’t all together there, but still, before thinking about what she was saying, she sputtered, “I’m not leaving.”

They stayed wrapped in each other for a few more minutes, simply waiting for Jughead to completely calm down. Neither of them thought back to holding each other so close and feeling like _this._

Betty wanted to cry. She wanted to scream and curse the universe for how hard it made everything be for them. She had to be strong though, so she was.

While Betty and Jughead started to resituate, Toni cleared all of the nosey, shocked Serpents out of the hallway as a way to give them so privacy. They sure needed it.

Literally, as soon as Jughead snapped back into reality, his whole body tensed up. “Fuck, fuck!” He paused backwards, pulling himself to his feet. Betty stayed stationed on the floor. “Listen, Betty. Fuck. I’m sorry. I’m really fucking sorry,” he blabbered. “I’ve got to call my therapist,” he said, saying the label as if he was proud to have this doctor (because he was). “Come to my apartment tonight. I-I’ll— I’ll— We can talk.” His hand gripped his hair in an wired out manner. His knees were wobbly and his hands were shaky, showing he hadn’t yet completely recovered from the attack. “I’ll, um, text you my address, okay?”

Betty’s lips parted and she looked as if she had a lot to say. Jughead could feel the bewilderment and concern radiating off of her. Instead of asking all sorts of questions or giving him shit, she plainly whispered, “Okay,” like she was at loss for words…  _because she was._

This opened a whole new can of items to worry about.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty and Jughead start to talk about things, but then they get... distracted. What happens between them? One-on-one?

Betty stood outside of Jughead’s apartment building, pacing back and forth with her cell phone in her hands. She was supposed to be leaving tomorrow, going back to New York City. Could she really leave though? Now?

The answer was no.

Dialing her boss’ phone number, she called him.  _“David Henderson speaking. How may I help you?”_

“Hi, David. It’s me, Betty,” she greeted.

“Oh, Betty. Are you back home here in the city yet? How was your trip?”

Home.

Riverdale is home, not the city.

Clearing her throat, Betty prepared herself for any sort of response to what she was about to say. “About that… um, this personal emergency I’ve been telling you about? It hasn’t really been resolved yet and I need to ask for a few more days away from work,” she said. She only paused for a moment before starting again. “I apologize for even asking. You know I wouldn’t if the circumstances were different, but I  _really_  have to be here in Riverdale for a few more days,” she nervously babbled.

There was a sigh coming from the other line, letting Betty know he was thinking.  _“Well, Betty, you aren’t the type to ask for days off, and you’d never be irresponsible or take advantage of this job,”_  he explained.  _“I’ll give you this whole week, but those will use up half of your vacation days.”_

“Okay!” Betty cheered. “Okay, yes, I’ll use my vacation days. Again, I apologize for this.”

_“No problem.”_

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” Betty announced, sounding oh, so sincere. “I will see you next Monday. Have a good night, David.” With that, she hung up the phone. Thankfully, that truly couldn’t have gone better.

All of a sudden, a familiar voice startled Betty from the state she was in. “You’re early,” Jughead called out, leaning on the stair railing in front of the apartment building. “As usual,” he muttered. There was some kind of softness in his voice. 

Betty turned to look at him. He looked better than he did before. “I’m punctual,” she corrected, hesitantly walking towards him.

Jughead lightly snorted, and Betty had to ignore how the tips of her ears turned red at the sound. “Come on,” he said, entering the building.

Betty gnawed at her bottom lip as she followed Jughead into the building an up the stairs. _Is he really going to talk to me? Fuck, I’ve been talking about ‘talking’ nonstop. Or are we going to fight some more?_ She flattened her palms against her jeans, fighting the urge to clench them.

His place was only on the second floor.  _Apartment 212._  There was only two apartments on each floor, and his was on the left side of the hall. When he opened the door, it was pretty much empty. Spacious, for sure, but there was barely anything in it.

“I shouldn’t really be surprised that you have like nothing in here,” Betty said quietly, lightly chuckling under her breath.  

Betty walked to the small couch and sat down, taking in the lack of her surroundings. This place really did scream  _Jughead_.

Jughead just shrugged his shoulders. All he needed in this place was a bed, a kitchen, some books, and his laptop. So, overall, that television, loveseat, and armchair he had was just extra buyings.

Stretching at the back of his neck, Jughead asked, “Uh, can I get you a drink or anything?” His voice was trembling, but not in the same way it was earlier. This was not anxiety-ridden, this was nerves from being here alone with the only girl he’s ever loved and knowing he’d be soon having to explain his life over the past seven years. Who wouldn’t be shaky?

Betty thought for a moment. “I’ll just have water, please.” She might end up needing it.

Jughead shrugged his jacket off, absentmindedly at that, and went to go get two glasses of water. Betty only saw a flash of his tattooed arm before he disappeared, but god, did she want to see it. She wanted to trace the lines of whatever it was he had filling those spaces. When he came back, he sat opposite of her on the armchair.

Trying not to be obvious, she did all she could to avert her eyes from the sleeve on his arm. Instead, she asked, “So, um… are you— fuck,” she shook her head. “I’m sorry if you don’t feel like getting into this, but the anxiety attack today?” She met his eyes, which were currently unreadable. “Does that happen a lot or did I… you know?”

Jughead looked down for a moment. _This is why you invited her here, Jughead. Explain. Don’t be a fucking dick._  He, too, shook his head and then cleared his throat. “It happens more often than it should,” he confessed. He could see the guilt in her features and felt the sudden urge to kiss it away, but he couldn’t do that. “You’re not the reason, Betty,” he whispered.

“Really?”

“You coming back here unexpected like this may have triggered it, but you’re not the reason,” Jughead swore, his voice earnest. “I won’t lie, it started when you left, but what caused it was the Serpent shit.” Suddenly, he felt like he was ready to just let it all out. The look she was giving him made him want to bow to her commands and do whatever she asks; he was sure she didn’t know that she had that effect on him. “Things got really bad around here after you left… really fucking nasty,” he quaked.

Betty gulped. “How bad?”

“I was in the hospital for like a month with a concussion and an infected gash to my leg,” Jughead admitted. “The Ghoulies work, of course. So, that was shit.” He looked down again. “Then Penny snuck her way back in, and she did every fucking thing she could to make my life a living hell. When Jellybean came back? She threatened her life. My sister. She threatened to fucking hurt my sister. She threatened you, and you weren’t even fucking here.” He paused. “Penny sent my dad to jail again.”

Betty wanted to soothe the crease above his eyebrow. She wanted to kiss him until his frown turned upside down. She couldn’t do that though.

“I just had a shit load on my plate and it was worsening by the minute. My mom died. Fangs went missing... I mean, he just ran away, but we didn’t know that. Mayor McCoy was targeting Sunnyside again, actually leaving a few of us with no home,” Jughead closed his eyes, feeling the sting of the memory.

A very prominent frown formed on Betty’s face. Her heart ached for him. “I’m sorry, Jug,” she offered.

“And that wasn’t the only thing,” he kept going. “Archie left for college in Chicago. Like I said, only heaven knows where Fangs went. All of Toni’s time was occupied by Cheryl. Hell, even Kevin was gone in the city with you,” he exhaled. “The only people I had at the time were Sweet Pea and Veronica. Can you imagine having to listen to Sweets trying to flirt with her 24/7? I love the guy to death, but holy shit, was that annoying,” he winced. “And Veronica will do anything for a compliment, you know,” he added.

In his voice, Betty could hear that he was trying to joke, but she knew it was fake. Tears started to prickle her eyes, threatening to pour down onto her cheeks.

“So, no,” Jughead started to conclude. “This? This anxiety? You’re not the sole reason of it. This was years of build up, and this is the one thing that I’ve never allowed myself to blame you for. I’ve blamed you for a lot of unnecessary shit, but not this.” His voice was getting choppy and that’s when Betty let a tear fall.

Wiping off the wetness of her cheeks, Betty sniffled. Why couldn’t she just go climb in his lap and hug him or kiss him until all that pain went away? Why couldn’t she? Because they had things to deal with before reconnected like that in any sort of way… _if they ever would._  All she managed to blurt out next was, “And your therapist?”

“I’ve been seeing her for six years,” Jughead informed her, trying to keep his voice steady to not make her cry anymore. He wanted her to think he was fine because he’d rather have his heart ripped out than see her cry like this. “She’s really good… helpful, nice. I trust her.”

Betty nodded, rubbing her hands against the couch to contain them. “Good,” she said softly. “Good.” When she looked back up at him, his eyes were glued on her. God, did she wish she could read his mind. In a whisper, she said, “I’m glad you have her.”

For what felt like an eternity, they just stared at each other silently. Tears or no tears. Smiles or frowns. Miles apart or inches apart. There was something irreplaceable and undeniably magnetic between them. It hurt not to act on it. Unresolved history was the problem.

Shocking her, Jughead got up and moved to sit next to her on the two-seater couch. Betty’s eyes roamed back to his arm, being that it was so close. He followed her gaze and muttered, “Oh, goddamnit.”

“What?” Betty looked up at him through her eyelashes. _He’s so close, I could touch him._ She silently cursed that thought away.

“I-I… uh,” Jughead stammered, seeming suddenly jumpy and nervous.

“What, Jug?”

Letting out a defeated sound, Jughead showed her his sleeve. “The tattoos,” he mumbled. “Take a look.” Betty let out a breath. She oh, so gently grabbed hold of his wrist, pulling his arm closer to her.

Neither of them mentioned the electricity they felt coursing through their veins at the touch.

_How is that feeling still there?_

She traced her fingers of the bottom part of his sleeve, absentmindedly. With all of the different things he had on there, she was shocked it look so fucking good. He had to have paid a lot of money to get tattoos of this quality. The only one that stood out separately was the Serpent tattoo that Toni drew because it was so roughly done compared to the others.

A lot of it was just shapes and patterns. Some of it seemed to be an outline of trees. There was a new and improved Serpent, but the original one still stood tall. Betty touched each tattoo.

But then…

As she turned his arm to the side, she found something unexpected. She immediately knew why he tried to hide that tattoo from her the other day by throwing on his jacket so quick.

In her cursive writing, the ink just beneath the inside part of his elbow, it said, ‘Forever and always, I love you.’ That’s what she wrote on his graduation gift.

“Wh-What is—?” She was practically at loss for words.

“Fuck,” he ran a hand down his face. “It was kind of spur of the moment. Now and then, I kinda, uh, take out some of  _our_  old stuff. One of the days was really shitty and reading that little letter just made me feel better. It made me feel like you loved me, at least once. And maybe that was our forever, you know?” He gulped, not being able to meet her eyes. “You think it’s crazy. I get it.”

“Maybe I don’t,” Betty said, causing Jughead to look st her quizzically. “Maybe I don't think it’s crazy,” she whispered. There was a silence after that, but her lips were parting. She wanted to say more. “Maybe our forever…” Betty gulped, slowly meeting his eyes as her finger traced the tattoo dedicated to her. “Maybe our forever is right here and right now. Maybe all it is, is us.” Her voice sounded cloudy, but yet oh, so serious. “Through it all.”

Jughead’s heart was doing summersaults. This was so bad. He had it so fucking bad. “Always?”

“Maybe,” Betty offered. He couldn’t miss the hopefulness in her tone. Something in her demeanor changed, and Jughead was sure to notice. Her eyes lulled.

Her finger was still dancing along his inked skin, sending shivers up his spine. Whatever it was between them, no matter how hard they’ve fought it, it was inevitable. It was like a gravitational force was pulling them together. “What if I want to do something I shouldn’t?” Jughead asked, leaning forward.

“What if I say I want you to?”

Everything in Jughead’s brain was screaming for him to stop, for him to tell her that this couldn’t happen. On the contrary, everything in his heart was screaming for him to love her with every fiber of him; his heart was screaming  _‘just go for it,’_  so loud that it over took what his brain was telling him. This would be going against everything he ever said.

_Bad idea. Bad idea. Bad idea._

But regardless of how badly Jughead thought he shouldn’t do this, their lips were suddenly touching in the softest and briefest of ways. Volts of electricity stormed through them both, making them want more, but the held back as much as they could.

Slowly, they pulled apart. Their breathing got heavier and hotter. Jughead looked at Betty’s lustful eyes and then back to her pink, plump lips. Rabidly, he grabbed hold of the side of her face and pulled her in again for a more hungry kiss. She took this as a chance to throw her leg over his lap and straddle him as they heavily made out.

Betty’s whole body was on fire. The tension that she felt between her legs was strong enough to drive her completely insane. She wanted him…  _all of him,_  and from the start, that’s how it’s always been. So, now, as their tongues tangled with one another, she realized she wanted this forever.

This feeling was irreplaceable. Jughead’s hardness was growing beneath Betty. To create more friction, as Jughead’s hands made their way down her back to the rounds of her ass, she rolled her hips down. Her hands slid underneath his shirt, feeling the ridges of his toned abs. She wanted to see him.

Still though, no matter how good she made him feel or how bad he  _needed_  this, alarms were blaring in Jughead’s mind. He had to pull away, but hearing her moan into him was making it harder. As Betty moved her mouth from his lips to her neck though, he had his chance. “Betty,” he groaned. She didn’t stop. “Betty, listen,” he choked.  _God, this is so fucking hard._  How could he stop her? He didn’t want to. “Betty, please stop.” His voice was so strained. “We can’t.”

Betty pulled away. “Jug—”

“We can’t,” he said, pulling her hands off of him. “We just…  _can’t_.” Immediately, he regretted saying that as tears formed in Betty eyes. She hopped off his lap, slowly nodding as she fought the waterworks away. She gathered her things without a word and head to the door. Jughead wanted to explain more… explain that there was a lot of unfinished business between them, explain that he still wanted her but nothing was coming out. “Not now,” he then managed.  _We can’t do this yet._

Betty’s back was to him, but the way her shoulders rose a bit, he knew she was fighting off crying. Then she sniffled, making him want to cry himself. A second later she was out the door.

Betty started running. She could’ve sworn she heard a bang on the wall inside of Jughead’s apartment and a faint scream of the word ‘fuck,’ but she couldn’t be so sure. With tears rushing down her cheeks, she ran. She ran and ran and ran and ran. The pounding of her feet on the cement coursed through her legs, but it didn’t bother her. The sting of her nails digging into her palms sent pain through her arms, but it didn’t bother her.

_Why doesn’t he want me? Why does this hurt so bad? Why does everything involving him hurt so fucking bad?_

She didn’t know where she was running to. It was mostly aimless. That is until she found herself at the foot of the stairs that led up to the door of her childhood home, and before she could even think against it, she was up and knocking on the red-painted door.

Alice opened it. “Betty?” She asked, shocked beyond belief. Here her daughter was, who she hadn’t seen for so, so long, standing at the doorstep, all disheveled and crying.

Crying, Betty threw her arms around her mother. “I messed up, Mom. I really messed up.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding out what happened between Betty and Jughead, Alice helps her daughter.

Betty laid in her mom’s arms atop of her old, childhood bed, weeping from the events that had just happened. Polly sat at the foot of the bed, rubbing up and down Betty’s leg, and her father stood in the doorway, just watching. They hadn’t seen Betty in two years now, but here she was, falling apart right in front of them with no explanation.

“Betty,” Polly said in the softest of manners. “You have to talk to us.” She gave a light squeeze to her ankle. What she was really wondering was,  _what could have been so deeply important that it caused her to come home?_ She was feeling pretty worried, but she always feels that way about her younger sister.

Betty let out a few more sobs. “I fucked up,” she said, knowing her mother wouldn’t dare to correct her on her language at a time like this. “Jughead—” She shook her head, still unable to speak.

“What about Jughead?” Alice asked. Betty couldn’t tell if what she heard in her voice was judgement or simple curiosity.

“I shouldn’t have left,” Betty admitted. She figured he family would say told you so, but no one responded. “I should’ve stay, but I didn’t and now I messed everything up,” she hiccuped. Everything she was saying currently made no sense to her family, but she wasn’t in the correct state of mind to get fully into detail. Who would be when it feels your heart was just ripped out of your chest?

Alice let out a long breath, growing irritated at the lack of knowledge that they were receiving. “Elizabeth, you have to explain yourself.”

“Jughead,” she said again, wiping more tears away and holding back as much as she could. “He is the only person that I’ve ever loved… the only person I will ever love,” she sniffled. “But I left and now everything has gone to shit,” she said, shamelessly swearing.

Alice’s ears perked up at hearing her daughter saying that Jughead is the only boy she’ll ever love. She figured Betty came here with a plan in mind and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. “Hal? Polly? Give us a few minutes,” she said, ordering them out. While Hal happily obliged, Polly looked at her and silently said _no._  “Polly, go.”

For a few minutes then, after the door close, Betty and her mother laid silently. There was something comforting about the pillowy feeling of her old mattress and the smell of her childhood bedroom brought her a sense of comfort. Crying over a boy… it just made her feel like a little girl and she wanted to be here with her mom rubbing her back, reminding her it’d all be okay.

“It just hurts, Mom,” Betty cried, resting her head in her mother’s lap. “It  _still_  hurts.”

“I know,” Alice whispered. “I know.” She did know. Sure, Betty hadn’t really explained yet what brought her here, but Alice knew what it was like losing the love of your life… it was with Jughead’s very own father, so she understood on an even higher level.

Crying or not, Alice was happy Betty was home. They had a lot of ground to cover and recover from their differences, but she was home and she was here. That was all that mattered, and she’d do anything to protect her daughter.  _Anything_.

* * *

7:00 AM. Alice pulled her station wagon at high speed into Sunnyside Trailer Park. The sound of the engine was probably enough to wake up each person in this little section of the Southside, but she didn’t care. She had things to deal with.

Quickly, she was out of her car and knocking on the door of the Jones’ trailer. With a closed fist, she pounded on it, screaming, “FP, you better open this damn door!”

A second later, a flannel clad man was opening the door with a sarcastic smile on his lips. “Oh, Ali. How nice of you to drop by,” he snarled. Then she pushed passed him to get inside. “Please, come in,” he spoke sneakily after she had already entered.

“You better talk some sense into your son,” she said, her voice shaky and angry all at once. Just then, Jughead walked into the trailer. His eyes were baggy, showing he clearly hadn’t slept. Alice didn’t care. “Tell me why the hell my daughter came running into our house crying so hard that she could barely breathe, Jughead? Tell me why I had to hold her until she fell asleep like I used to when she was a baby? Tell me why the hell—”

“Alice,” FP interrupted, seeing how Jughead’s face contorted after Alice’s outburst.

Jughead looked like he had just seen a fucking ghost… again. He’d been having that facial expression a lot these past few days. The thought of Betty crying all night broke his heart in half though. He caused that, and he really didn’t mean to. Never in his life had he wanted to hurt her. Sure, he’s been in pain. He wrote that book and published it off of pure, raw, painful emotion, but everything he's ever done has never been to hurt her. Last night? Stopping himself before he got any further? That was not to hurt her. It was to fucking save her.

FP continued then. “They’re adults now. They can work things out,” he tried.

“No!” Alice shouted, causing Jellybean to run out of her room to see what all the commotion was about. “I've said it once and I’ll say it again… I will not let them make the same stupid decisions that we made,” she said with so much passion dripping from her throat. This time, it had a different meaning then when the Serpent life was beginning for Jughead. This time, it was so that they knew not to lose the love of their life. Alice messed that one up, she won’t let her daughter. “I thought they were doomed seven years ago, but she is here. She is home and I am not letting her go without at least having some closure.” Her eyebrows were knitted together and her teeth were gritted.

FP looked at her with a heartfelt expression, like he really understood what she was saying… and he did. He was there there for all of that too. Just like she lost him, he lost her. So now, after years of petty arguments and disagreements, he knew what she was saying was right. Where would Jughead get if he had a father who didn’t push him towards the right thing? From the way Alice’s demeanor changed, it was clear that she knew FP was on the same page as her.

“What’s going on?” Jellybean finally spoke up. Normally, seeing such a heated conversation, she’d stay out of it. She was worried and curious though. Also, to her, as a protective little sister, anything that had to do with Betty Cooper, the girl who broke her brother’s heart, was bad news.

“Stay out of it, JB,” Jughead said, his voice weak and unsteady. “Please.” He didn’t need to hear anything else from anyone right now.

FP looked at his son, nodding his head. “Go find your girl.”

* * *

Betty sat at Pop’s with a vanilla milkshake in front of her. It may have only been 7:40 AM, but the comfort of her favorite milkshake was needed. It was so early that she was almost the only person in the diner, besides an elderly couple. So, being here with only the faint sounds of two elderly people giggling with each other, she didn’t feel as bad as she had. Nonetheless, tears were still welled up in her eyes.

She didn’t know how long she was sitting there, simply stirring her melting milkshake, until the bells above the entrance chimed. She didn’t bother looking back, letting herself stay secluded in her own little world.

Well, that was interrupted.

“Betty Cooper?” A voice called out. Betty  _knew_  who it was, she just couldn’t really place it. It seemed familiar.

Turning around, she was met with a boy she went to school with. “Trev!” Betty tried to sound giddy and welcoming like she was raised to be. “Wow, I haven’t seen you in forever. How are you?”

“I’m doing great,” he said, smiling as he walked over to her. “What about you? How are you doing?” Trev asked. “Do you mind if I sit?” He continued before even letting her answer the first question.

 _Yes, I mind. I want to be alone, for God’s sake,_  Betty thought, but she held it back. Instead, she decided on saying, “Be my guest,” and motioning to the opposing side of the booth. “And I’m good as well,” she lied. Normally, chatty as she is, she’d be asking him questions, seeing how he’s been just for the friendliness of it, but she was not feeling it right now.

“Where are you living now? New York City, correct?”

_Why ask if you already know?_

Betty took a sip of her now-extra-milky milkshake before nodding. “I am,” she responded, smiling to her best ability. She coughed uncomfortably. “And you? You’re still living here, I assume?”  _This is who you are, Betty. You’re the most well-mannered, outgoing, generous woman that came out of this town. Play the fucking part._

“I am, yes,” Trev said. “I’m working at a law firm actually, he told him, honestly thinking she was interested. Betty just nodded her head, but was paying absolutely no attention to what he was saying as he babbled on.

Betty literally felt like ripping her hair out, but her smile remained. It’s supposed to be nice catching up with an old friend, isn’t it?

Eventually the bell shoved the door rang again and Betty heard very familiar footsteps. Trev was still rambling, but Betty couldn’t help but turn to see who it was.  _Jughead_ , of course.  _Oh, shit_. Sucking in a breath, she met his eyes, which looked so tired. Hadn’t he slept?

She forgot about Trev as her body trembled in nervousness. That is until Jughead was standing at the foot of the table. He gave one last glance to Betty and then he looked at the man sitting opposite of her. Trevor’s voice silenced as he looked up at Jughead… even he knew that he was about to get thrown out of here.

“Get the fuck out,” is all he had to say. His voice was threatening and assertive, causing Trev to scramble away.

_So he can act all possessive now? Like he cares? No, no. Dumb thoughts. He cares. He cares._

Once Trev was gone, Jughead plopped down where he was sitting, leaning his elbows on the table and putting his head in his hands.

“That was rude.”

“Do you care?”

“Uh, yes, asshole.”

“No you don’t.” Jughead finally looked back up at her. “You’re just pissed at me,” he said. Suddenly, he looked like he was about to break. His eyes were pooling with water, his cheeks were sucking in, his frown was deepening. “And I’m sorry, Betty. I didn’t mean to hurt you last night. I didn’t ever mean to hurt you,” he choked.

Betty batted her eyes away. “I—”

“No,” Jughead interrupted. “Let me fucking talk.” He took a deep breath.  _Fuck_. “I know think I stopped last night because I don’t want you or some insane shit like that, but, god, Betty, I have never stopped wanting you. Never.” He looked at her so intently that she felt drawn in, like she had to stare into his deep blue eyes. “I stopped because we still have a lot of stuff to work out between us, and that really could’ve fucked it all up. I want us to fix all this shit and we wouldn’t have been able to if he went any further, do you understand what I mean?”

Betty wiped a tear from her cheek. Her breathing was heavy. He was the only person who could make her feel so many different ways. “Yes,” she answered, but now, she finally did. He did want her  _(which may I say, is a confidence boost)._  After hearing him explain it, she knew he made the right choice. His control over himself was definitely stronger than hers.

“So, no, I didn’t want to hurt you last night,” he ending that part of his speal. “And why don’t I tell you what I never intended to hurt you with? It sure was a lot.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead and Betty finally have the talk they needed to have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I am so sorry that this update took so long. My laptop has gone missing, the security at my college suspect a certain boy who is known for stealing has taken it so they are in the process of searching for it, along with many other students supplies. Hopefully, I get it back soon, but if not, I will try again to get to a computer in the next few days for an update. Thanks for your patience.

_“So, no, I didn’t want to hurt you last night,” he ending that part of his speal. “And why don’t I tell you what I never intended to hurt you with? It sure was a lot.”_

“Wha-What else didn’t you mean to hurt me with?” Betty urged him. If he was willing to finally let it all out with her, she was going to let him. Technically, she couldn’t force him to release all of what has been pent up inside of him, but if she could, she would. Jughead looked away, not willing himself to meet her eyes. So, Betty resulted in reaching across to table to hold his hand. Maybe it was a risk, but she wanted to.

Jughead looked between their hands and then finally up to her face. She was looking at him softly, showing she was ready to hear this. She was prepared for anything. “We… We… I think we should talk about the book.”

A flicker of hope and anticipation ran through Betty. She nodded, quietly whispering, “Okay.”

“I started it just before you left. Whatever I was writing before then? In high school? I deleted it all. I restarted,” Jughead began, playing with Betty’s fragile fingers that he held so delicately. “It wasn’t supposed to get so fucking dark,” he scoffed at himself.

Betty shrugged, giving him a sad smile. “It wasn’t all dark,” she suggested. Truly, it wasn’t. If you really, really speculate the meanings, as she did, you could see there was some optimism whether it be in her or the other people or parts of his life. Sure, there were some fucked up things in there, but not all of it. Jughead Jones, on the outside, is the equivalent (as Pop once said) to a modern day gothic poet, but to those who really know him, they know he also knows how to smile and crack a joke… they know he knows how to hope and dream and fight for it all to come.

“Most of it was,” Jughead exhaled. “I was just so hurt. I was mad as hell. I blamed just about everything on you and I wrote it all out for everyone to see.” He shook his head, biting down on his tongue. “I didn’t mean for it all to be so fucking twisted, I really didn’t.” By the second, his heart started to hurt as he talked about this. “I didn’t mean for it to focus so much on you. It was just all coming out of me in the worst ways and I just woke up one morning and published it.” He took a deep breath. “Well, I mean, the publishing process took awhile, but one morning, I woke up and decided that’s what I wanted to do.” Unable to meet her eyes, he looked out the window, but still refused to release the hands he held in his own. He had to be anchored to her somehow… _funny how in a matter of a few days, including the fighting and all, we’ve reached that point again, isn’t it?_  Back to what this was about, he sighed, “I don’t know if— I don’t even think it’s something for me to be proud of, but—”

“Don’t ever say shit like that again,” Betty cut him off, appalled by that last sentence more so than anything. _Not proud? After that?_  “You should be thrilled for yourself, Jug. You should be so, so, so proud,” she urged him. “Yeah, I was fucking mad and confused and I didn’t know why it said what it did, but those tears I cried while reading it? Those weren’t just from what you wrote. It was from  _how_  you wrote it,” she went on. “You are such a brilliant writer, Jughead. No matter what you publish, I know damn well that it’s something for you to take pride in. I mean, shit, this may be the most proud I’ve ever been of you… I’ve had a funny way of showing it, but it’s true. You wrote an amazing book, I can’t deny that.”

He didn’t know what it was, whether it was because he wanted to look at her or if it was like magnetic-like force that brought them together that made Jughead meet her gaze, but here he was. Her emerald, dashing green eyes poured into his soul, entrancing him in a way that made him feel like he was crumbling. “Thank you,” he choked out. There was so much emotion in those grateful words. It made Betty want to kiss him.

Betty cleared her throat, feeling a bit overwhelmed by this whole situation. She loved it, seeing as how they were currently on the same page. At the same time though, she hated it. She wanted them to be happy… _with each other._  All this work in between, the way the had to patch the holes, it was really hard. They had to do it though. They had no choice. “But, uh, anyway,” she gulped. “You were saying?” Her eyes roamed his face curiously and worriedly.

“Yeah,” Jughead nodded, adjusting himself by shifting around in the booth and squeezing her hands just a little bit tighter. “Like I was saying…” He had to backtrack for a moment. That steady, soft, heartwarming look she was giving him a few moments ago really threw him off guard. “Practically, I just published it on a whim,” he explained. “I thought of you everyday for seven whole years, but that is the one time in all this time that I didn’t consider what you’d think, and I’m sorry. I should’ve thought about your feelings,” he said. “I may have put it under Forsythe, but deep down I knew you’d find it. You’re not one to miss anything.” His head was down again, feeling remorseful and relieved all at the same time…  _if that makes sense._

Betty squeezed his hand, comfortingly rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. He watched the movement without even blinking, and of course, she noticed. Only she could keep him at bay, even when she was the reason for his pain. “I’m not upset that you released it,” she said. “So don’t apologize.” She let out a heavy breath. Her heart was hammering against her chest. “Don’t ever apologize for what you create. You have talent like no one I’ve ever met before.”

So much honesty. So much rawness. All between them.

Jughead gave her a soft, lazy, weak smirk. “You may not want me to apologize for that, but I have a lot more to be sorry for,” he said with a slightly cracked voice.

Betty felt a twisting in the pit of her stomach at what Jughead was suggesting. Then she started aggressively playing with his long, strong fingers instead of anxiously digging her nails into her skin, so it was helpful (and she knew Jughead knew that).  _She also had to ignore how badly she wanted these hands all over her. She definitely could not think about that right now… certainly not in a time like this._ “Like what?” Betty rasped out, fluttering her eyes a bit as she came back into the present.

“Uh,” Jughead stammered, feeling nerves start to bubble up inside of him. “You— Um—”  _God fucking damnit._ “You called me… quite a few times… after you left.” Guilt. There was so much guilt inside of him, and Betty could tell from the furrow of his brow how he was truly feeling.

Sucking in a breath, Betty nodded her head in one slow movement. “I did.”

 _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._ This was so hard. He felt so bad for everything, but he needed to do what he needed to do. “You also texted and emailed and uh, just tried to get ahold of me…”

“Yes, I think I know that.”

Jughead nodded a bit frantically. “Yeah, yeah,” he then switched to shaking his head. “I’m just— I’m really sorry I didn’t answer you,” he let out, feeling tears well up in his eyes as he spoke. Speaking of this brought back a lot of fucked up memories. “I was just so upset… so fucking disappointed in myself… and my anxiety was probably at its worst around then,” he admitted. “But more than that, that was when Penny was threatening you and I just couldn’t take it. If I talked to you or even fucking thought about you to a certain point, I had no doubt that she would find out. I couldn’t put you in that sort of danger—”

With a bit of frustration, Betty cut him off. “Jug—”

“No. Listen to me,” Jughead spoke in an assertive tone. “I understand that all of our lives, you have been strong enough to hold your own. I never doubted that. I know how fucking pissed off you get when I do things to protect you because you could handle yourself,” he started. “But this? That time for me? I was in so deep of shit, and she would’ve done anything to ruin me.” He shook his head. “You got out. You escaped my fucked up life and I would do anything to keep you from getting pulled down.” Betty was listening so intently, not daring to interrupt him. “And then she got put away, right? I went to New York City a handful of times to find you. I was going to fix my wrongs. I was going to fix everything I ever did to hurt you,” he admitted. “Do you know how hard it is though? Coming to a place that you’re unfamiliar with? Looking for the love of your life without a clue as to if she has met a new man? Without a clue to if she forgot about you? I fucking love you so much and I was so fucking scared.” A tear fell from his cheek. When he looked at Betty then to find her in a bewildered state. “What?”

“What did you just say?” Betty asked, leaning forward a bit.

Jughead raised an eyebrow. “Were you not listening?”

“No, no,” Betty repeated. “No. You just said— Did you just say you love me?”

Jughead sighed, realizing what he said.  _Oh, shit._ Well, he might as well be honest. He has been all morning. “You know that I love you,” he whispered, not looking her in the eye.

Letting go of his hands, Betty reached up to cup his face. She was practically halfway over the table, but that didn’t matter to her right now. “Say it again.” Jughead just looked at her, teary eyed and all, not knowing what the hell he should do. So ultimately, Betty repeated herself. “Say it again.”

“I love you, Betty Cooper,” Jughead finally said after a long, long pause. “I’ve loved you all my life and I always will,” he choked out, leaning forward to their foreheads could rest against each other.

Without much thought, rather just on instinct, Betty connected their lips. It was long and it was soft. It was a fill in for all the years that they’ve missed. It was a necessity.

When they separated, both of the breaths picked up. Not because it was a heavy kiss, but because of the emotion in it all.

Betty opened her eyes, whispering, “Jughead Jones, I love you.”

Love. It was there. It was so prominent. It was almost heart wrenching to feel something so strong. They need each other. They needed this love. There was still a lot of work to be done though.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty fills Veronica in on her and Jughead, and then gets invited to dinner at FP's trailer so they could catch up. Does all go well?

“He really said all that?” Veronica asked, taking a moment to stop brushing Betty’s hair out as they sat atop the bed so she could see what type of emotion was being portrayed on her best friend’s face.

Betty twisted to look at her. She let out a sigh as their eyes met and nodded. “He did,” she confirmed. “It broke my head though, V, seeing him so worked up.” She shook her head, not wanting to remember the anguish that covered his facial features… from the squint in his eyes to the downward curve of his thin lips. “He just kept saying sorry.” She slightly winced. “God, I hope he realizes how guilty I’ve felt over everything. I hope he isn’t really putting every ounce of this on him.”

Veronica frowned, but went back to doing Betty’s hair. “I don’t know, B. You know how he is, he always blames himself for everything. I kind of have a feeling he’s looking at this logically though,” she suggested. “I just don’t see him really apologizing to you like that if he didn’t. He’s hard headed.”

Betty sighed, tipping her head back. “Yeah,” she responded. “Yeah. I hope so.”

“Was anything else said between you two?” Veronica inquired. She wasn’t going to let anything get passed her in this situation. These were her best friends and she was nosey as hell, so she had to know.

A light, shaky chuckle escaped Betty lips, piquing Veronica’s interest. “Well,” she started cautiously. “He kind of may have slipped up and told me that he still loves me.” Betty didn’t turn to see Veronica’s reaction, but she did notice the comb fall from her hand. “And I may have kissed him and told him I love him back,” she said in such a quiet voice that her friend was lucky she didn’t miss it.

“What did you just say?” Veronica asked, wanting to hear it again. Instead, she got Betty slowly turning to look at her with a weak, sort of sad grin. “Oh, my god. Why would you leave this out? Why wouldn’t you tell me this first? This is the most important part of the whole story!”

Betty dropped her shoulders a bit. “V,” she tried, but couldn’t get more than one word out before Veronica was going on and on again.

“Love? You said you love him? He said he loves you?” Veronica was squealing now. It was unreadable as to if she was shrieking in joy or horror, so Betty just looked at her with raised eyebrows. “God, I knew you two were soulmates since I was sixteen years old. I was right! I was fucking right.” She clapped her hands together three times in a triumphant manner. “Archiekins! Come here! You must hear this!”

Betty put her head in her hands, letting out a heavy breath. Mother of fuck, is Veronica the most dramatic human being alive.

“What’s up?” Archie asked as he stepped into the guest bedroom. He tilted his head in confusion when he saw his girlfriend’s ecstatic state and Betty’s more dismal-like one.

“I was right,” Veronica danced around on the bed. “Jug and Betty are soulmates!”

Archie raised an eyebrow. “I knew that,” he said. Lifting his arms in an obvious fashion, he added onto what he said by saying, “I think everyone knows that.”

“Oh, my god,” Betty complained. Inside though, she liked the sound of that… soulmates. Then, breaking the moment between the three of them, the shrilling sound of Betty’s cell phone rang through the room. She jumped to it to find Jughead’s name on the screen. “Hello?”

“Betty? Uh, hey,” Jughead said through the phone. Betty heard the nervous tone in his voice and imagined him rubbing the back of his neck.

“Hey, Jug,” Betty said, probably sounding too enthusiastic to hear his voice again. “What’s up?”

Betty heard Jughead shifting around through the phone. She bit her lip, waiting for a response. “Listen, uh, my dad is dying to catch up with you. We were wondering if you’d maybe wanna come by his place for dinner tonight?” There was a quick pause them, emphasizing how unsure of himself that he seemed. “I mean, only if you want.”

“Yes,” Betty blurted out all too quickly. “Yes,” she repeated herself. “I’d love to.” She sucked in a breath as she heard Jughead let one out… it sounded of relief, which made her grin. “What time should I come over?”

“Umm… around 7,” Jughead thought for a moment. Back to the worriedness, he added, “If that works for you.”

Betty let out a small chuckle. “Yes, that works,” she told him. “I’ll see you at 7, Jug.”

“See you, Betts.”

With that, Betty hung up the phone and placed it at her side. There was an unmissable, yet faint smile playing onto her pink-tinted lips. When she moved her gaze, she found Archie standing expectantly with crossed arms and Veronica leaning forward a bit with a questionative glare. They both looked like they were asking to hear what was just said.

Betty cleared her throat, looking down to her hands. “I’m having dinner with Jughead and FP tonight,” she admitted, despite knowing that they have found out eventually. It really was useless not telling them anything right away.

Giggling, Veronica proclaimed, “Oh, you two are totally gonna get it on soon.”

* * *

Betty, yet again, was feeling butterflies in her stomach. She wish she had an answer as to why this man still gave her this feeling of being a sixteen year old who’s going to talk to their crush for the first time, but she didn’t. She’s loved this man… hell, she loves this man. The only thing she should be nervous about is how they either progress or regress, but it felt like more than that. Everything about him made her tingle, from her fingertips to the most unholy places of her body. He was enchanting.

Outside of Sunnyside Trailer Park, where Veronica kindly had her personal driver drop her off, Betty paced back and forth trying to calm her nerves. Eventually though, she realized how stupid she was being and said, “Oh, fuck it,” to herself before storming up to the door of the Joneses trailer.

Knock. Knock—

“Betty,” FP smiled widely as he opened the door before pulling her into a welcoming hug. “How are you doing?”

Of course, Betty returned the smile. It reached her eyes and from the back of the room, where Jughead was waiting, he tried to ignore how that tugged his heart. “I’m good, FP. How are you?”

A small chuckle escaped his throat. “I’m good, dear. I’m good,” the older man responded with a nod of his head.

“Hi, Jug,” Betty said softly as she tucked her wavy blonde locks behind her ear. He looked so shy, but then all of a sudden, she was racking her eyes down him, seeing as he wasn’t wearing a jacket to expose his tattoo-ridden arm.

“Hey, Betts,” Jughead responded, sounding a bit more confident than he looked one second ago. When they met eyes, he was smirking at the way she way eyeing him up, causing a blush pink to spread from her cheeks to the tips of her ears. He was still grinning, but continued to speak. “Dinner will be ready any minute.”

Glancing between FP and Jughead, Betty looked confused. “You cooked?”

FP chuckled. “We made pasta,” Jughead informed her, shrugging his shoulders a bit. That’s when he went back to look shy and timid.

“Nice and easy,” FP said, leading her into the kitchen. Betty giggled at the imagine that formed in her mind of them trying to cook together. Jughead must have caught on because he let out a small giggle as weep.

They set out plates and silverware before making their platters. FP poured everyone drinks, ranging from Betty’s simple glass of water to Jughead’s mug of black coffee to his own glass of Pepsi. They silently mover through these motions, and it just felt… right.

“No JB tonight?”

“She’s out with friends.”

Once they began dinner, FP started asking questions about life in New York City. Betty filled him in on everything. She talked about how ambushed she often felt with the crowds, yet contradicted it with her love of the fast pace. She told him of how she landed her job and how grateful she has been to have that position. She brought up Kevin, more for Jughead’s sake, saying how even though he’s found a nice boyfriend that he moved in with, she still has gotten to see him at least twice a week. It was nice, actually, for them to find so much out about her life there and know that she was doing well.

FP mindlessly then asked the question, “Do you find that to be your true home?”

Jughead stopped eating, peeking up to see what she was going to respond with. Betty too, let her fork down on the table. “No,” she said in a half whisper. “No, this is home.”

“Will you ever move back here?” FP asked, honestly not noticing the palpable tension that the questions were causing.

“I—”

Betty was cut off the the front door opened. “Dad! I’m home,” Jellybean’s boomed through the trailer. The sound of her bag clunking on the floor echoed as well, followed by the sound of her footsteps nearing them. When she entered the kitchen to see Betty, the pleasant look on her face fell and she let out an annoyed grunt. “What is she doing here?”

“Excuse me?” Jughead raised his eyebrows at his sister’s rudeness. Jellybean scoffed. “You don’t talk like that.” FP, too, scolded her for the audacity she had to speak like that towards someone.

Jellybean cackled an angry sound. “What? You want me to be nice? She’s a fucking deserter.” She glared at Betty, who put her head down in return as she clenched her fists under the table. Jughead felt that underlying anxiety that he’s been holding back starting to bubble in his chest. “You want me to be nice so you can get in her pants, Jug? Is that it?”

Oh, the hostility.

“Forsythia!” FP shouted, slamming his hands on the table.

Betty shook her head, letting FP and Jughead know that it was okay. Mostly, she was doing this because of how she saw Jughead’s body tense. “Jellybean, I understand why—”

“Do you think you even have the right to speak?” Jellybean barked. She was looking at her like she had three heads, showing such disgust. Betty shut her mouth, raising her eyebrows highly at what was said. “I mean, for God’s sakes, Betty, you’re horrible.”

Coming after that, FP started shouting at Jellybean for acting in such a disrespectful manner. It was practically just a yelling match between them two for the next few minutes. In this time, Jughead started to breathe heavy. It wasn’t that he was scared, more like overwhelmed. It was just the past few days have been so fucking hectic. He couldn’t handle fighting… well, at least the fighting over Betty that came unexpectedly. Then he noticed how despite Betty’s neutral expression, her nails were digging into her palms. That sent him to the brink.

Putting his head in his hands, he waited until the sound started to echo. This wasn’t bad. This wasn’t full on anxiety attack levels of nerves, but it was distraction. The intensity of the situation through him off enough to be in this state.

Betty breathed out, listening to FP and Jellybean about. When she turned her head to Jughead, she saw him coming in and out of reality. He wasn’t about to start crying or hyperventilating, but his hands were shaky as they clutched his hair and his breath was heavy. It made her heart drop to her stomach.

Quickly, she jumped in front of his chair, kneeling between his legs to that they were close. She grabbed tightly onto his face. “Hey, hey,” she shook him out of his anxiety-ridden trance. “Stay here. Stay with me, Juggie,” she said softly. “It’s okay. We’re okay.”

Jughead could hear her. He understood, so he nodded. “O-kay,” he muttered. His hands were still shaking as the reached up to rest on Betty’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, leaning their foreheads together. “It’s too much. I know. I know. I’m sorry.” She sighed. “Just breathe, Juggie. Try to calm your breath.”

“Closer. Come closer,” Jughead forced out. He remembered how the other day, when he felt her breath on his skin, he was able to calm down. “Count?”

Betty let out a sound of relief. He was okay. He just needed a bit of pushing in the right direction. “Count,” she confirmed. “One, two, three…” She paused, waiting for him. “We’ll restart,” she assured him and he nodded. “One, two, three, four…” Eventually, they got to ten. “Good. You got it,” she mumbled into is neck as he pulled her up into a tight embrace.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” Jughead mumbled into her neck. “I didn’t take— I didn’t take my pills this morning.” He shook his head, not willing to let her go yet. “I’m sorry.”

Betty soothed the back of his hair down with one hand and rubbed his back with the other. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

“Hands. Your hands,” Jughead rambled. “Did you stop? You have to stop,” he said. He pulled away and grabbed her wrists so he could inspect the incisions on her hands. It was mostly just scars, but he could see the freshness in certain areas. “Oh, no. Oh, no.” He kissed her palms and then the tip of her fingers. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Shhh,” Betty hushed him as he worked himself up. She bunched her hands in his t-shirt. “Shh, I’m alright.” She leaned their foreheads together again. “Look at me.” He looked her lips. “In the eyes, dumbass,” she laughed lightly. She wasn’t so scared right now. This is something she accepts in him (along with everything else about him).

“Tell me something good.”

Betty thought for a moment. She hoped what came to her mind was considered good in his book before she said it before she could doubt herself. “I’m gonna stay right here… now and forever. I won’t leave,” she whispered.

Jughead stares into her emerald green eyes, feeling his insides churn at how deep they were staring into each other’s souls. He was almost back into his full reality. “Can you kiss me?” Betty bit her lip before tilting her chin up to kiss him. It was soft and chaste, but it brought all of his puzzle pieces together. “Thank you,” he said so quietly she could barely hear it.

“Always,” she whispered back.

Snapping them back to current time, FP cleared his throat. “Oh, mother of fuck,” Jughead complained. Just then, both of the two involved realized Betty was in his lap. Awkwardly, he helped her off and onto the chair next to him.

Jellybean, all of a sudden, looked very guilty. She looked like she was feeling regret, and if she was, it was rightful. Maybe Betty isn’t that bad. “Jug, was that—” She couldn’t finish the sentence without getting nervous.

“Was that the anxiety you’ve talked about?” FP finished for her, understanding the hesitance. If this is what happened to him so often, he would barely be able to bare the idea of not helping him.

Jughead looked down, nodding. “That wasn’t even half of it,” he said solemnly. There was a certain edge to his voice, showing he really did not like talking about this.

“Oh, god,” Jellybean basically cried out. “Did I— Oh, my god. I’m so sorry. I just— Oh, god.” She was shaking her head worriedly with her hands over her mouth.

Jughead shook his head. “Not your fault,” he murmured. “Maybe you should try not acting like that though. This does not involve you, and your input is not appreciated when your acting like such a—”

“Jughead, stop,” Betty said, ending whatever he was about to say before he had the chance.

“No!” Jughead roared. “This is between you and me,” he pointed between them. “Not us and JB. Not us and Archie and V. Not us and our parents. Not us and the Serpents,” he went on. “It’s between you and me, and that is it.”

“I understand that,” Betty seethed. “So instead of being an ass, why don’t you look at this logically? Why don’t we have Jelly explain exactly why she can’t stand me so much… because I promise you there is more than one reason.” Thankfully, Jughead figured he could agree with that.

Jellybean’s lips parted, ready to speak, but nothing came out yet. The other three in the room looked at her expectantly and she felt the pressure of their gazes.

Jughead prompted her, itching for answers. “Well?”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jellybean explains to Betty what her anger comes from.

_“So instead of being an ass, why don’t you look at this logically? Why don’t we have Jelly explain exactly why she can’t stand me so much… because I promise you there is more than one reason.” Thankfully, Jughead figured he could agree with that._

_Jellybean’s lips parted, ready to speak, but nothing came out yet. The other three in the room looked at her expectantly and she felt the pressure of their gazes._

_Jughead prompted her, itching for answers. “Well?”_

Jellybean sucked in a big breath. She didn’t know what to do. An explanation of her behavior the past few days may be a good idea, but hell, if she wanted to do that.  _God, I’m such a fucking idiot sometimes. Why can’t I ever keep my mouth shut?_ She cursed herself silently. She’s spent so long holding as much as she could in, masking over the faults only girl that she’s ever seen Jughead love, and she didn’t feel ready to open her mind to anyone. “I— I can’t,” she shook her head.

“Jellybean,” FP said, taking use of the proper, stern, fatherly voice he’s learned to have over his past few sober years. “I know you’re a teenage girl with hormones and shit that I don’t know how to deal with and I understand you’ve been misguided, but you know damn well that is not how you talk to someone… especially someone who has done nothing to you.” He gave her a look that showed she was never wiggling her way out of this one. “Betty deserves an explanation.”

Jellybean nervously rubbed her hands over her sides as she frantically looked between her father, her brother, and Betty. “I—” She opened her mouth, not yet able to speak. “Can I—”  _Oh, fuck._  “Can I just talk to Betty? Alone, please?”

Jughead shifted, not liking the idea of that. His eyes narrowed at his sister, worriedly. “Jelly—”

“Yeah,” Betty cut him off, not letting his disapproval go any further. “Yeah, you and I will talk,” she nodded. Despite figuring it would be unwelcome, Betty extended a hand towards the Jones girl. “Come on. We’ll go to your room.” Her voice was soft and completely non-judgemental, ultimately making Jellybean feel even worse.

Shockingly, Jellybean took Betty’s hand. “Okay,” she whispered and led the way.

FP and Jughead just stayed frozen. Jughead did not want them to be alone together, fearing that his sister’s temper would get the better of her and all that would come out of this was more of a quarrel. He didn’t want that. FP, on the other hand, was worried for what his daughter had lodged up in her head that was making her so moody. Thinking about it, with the anxiety and all, he’s sure missed a lot with his son.

The last thing Betty heard before the door shut to Jellybean’s bedroom was FP saying, “Boy, why don’t you tell me about his anxiety problem now?” She hoped that conversation was about to go well.

Betty looked around Jellybean’s room. To her surprise, it really didn’t look at that different than it did when she left (or you could even say when Gladys and JB, herself left). The bed was still in the same place. The walls were still that chipped white. The carpet was the same. The only thing different was the black comforter on the bed and the Led Zeppelin posters on the walls. It still screamed the little Jellybean Jones thay Betty remembered though.

Awkwardly, Jellybean paced back and forth while Betty sat on the foot of the bed. “Fuck, I really have to do this,” she muttered.

“I just want to know what else I’ve done to make you feel so much hate towards me, Jelly,” Betty said, slightly shrugging her shoulders. There was no edge to her voice, just pure curiosity and a hint of worry. “Take your time though.”

“I don’t  _hate_  you. I couldn’t hate you,” Jellybean admitted. For God’s sakes, she remembers Betty bringing over her old baby dolls to play with when she was just a toddler. She remembers when she and her mom were in Toledo and she found out about the time when Betty taught Jughead how to hold a baby—  _meaning her._  There was so much good Betty’s done that hate would be impossible to feel towards her; she was just angry.

Betty involuntarily let out a small chuckle. “Then what is it?” She pleaded for the answer. “I understand how badly I’ve messed up, but I know it’s more. What is it?” She was trying to push her by any means, she just wanted to fucking understand.

Jellybean ran a hand over her face, letting out a guttural groan. Hurriedly, she sat down on the bed a far enough distance from Betty, making sure to tuck her feet under herself. “You want to know why I’m so mad?” She paused. “I’m so mad,” she pointed her finger. “Because for one, do you know how many people have left Jughead? Just  _left_  him?” She looked at Betty as if she could feel Jughead’s very own pain in those times. “Mom left him. I left him. Dad left him. That was bad enough,” she shook her head. “Then you left him.” She paused. “You were the one who was supposed to be his constant. You were the one who was never supposed to leave.”

Betty’s frown grew deeper and deeper with every strike Jellybean came at her with. She was right. Jughead has had people abandoning him his whole entire life. She wishes she wasn’t one of those people on that list. “I messed up. I’ll be apologizing for my whole entire life, but I will never stopping reminding him or you that I tried, JB. I didn’t want us to end completely. I tried. I had to—”

Jellybean shook her head again. “Let me continue,” she insisted. She’s on the flow of things now, so she might as well keep going. “Now, secondly,” she started. “Just a few months after you left… when Mom was getting sicker and sicker and I came back to Riverdale, I had never seen Jughead so heartbroken. I, in my right mind, thought it was over Mom. I started picking things up though. He had your shit all over his room. Your articles were on his laptop. I heard him cry his fucking heart out every time his phone would ring— which I now realize was you. He was a mess and I couldn’t stand seeing it.” Tears pricked in his eyes. “I mean,  _fuck_ … I’m a mess. I am right now. I was then. I’m just a big fucking mess, but  _that_? Seeing him like that broke me down worse than I thought it could. The Jughead I knew was strong and that just wasn’t there anymore.” God, did it hurt for her to think about that. “That Jughead that I just saw out there on the brink of an anxiety attack? Do you know scary that is for me to see?”

Betty blinked back her own tears. Her heart was starting to ache all over again. “I’m sorry,” she blurted, not knowing whether she was apologizing for how much she potentially ruined or the way Jellybean was feeling about everything or both. Either way, an apology felt necessary in the moment.

For a moment, they stayed silent. Jellybean had so much running through her head. It all came at her in a flash. “I know I can’t blame you for all of that, it’s just  _easier_  that way.”

Betty gulped. “I understand,” she said and she did. She remembered crying, night after night over the emptiness she felt in her heart when she moved to New York City. She blamed it all on Jughead, not that she would’ve have told him that…  _even during that time._

“And there’s one more thing,” Jellybean said with a shaky and strained voice. It sounded like she really didn’t want to talk about whatever she was about to bring up. “I know Jughead loves me… and I know he loves Dad,” she started, blinking up towards the ceiling. “The separation though… the pain we’ve put him through? Of course it’s affected him, I know it has. It affect me too. How couldn’t it?” A tear finally ran down her cheek, but she was quick to wipe it away. “But when it comes to you…” She breathed a deep breath. “No matter what you do and no matter how upset he is over it, no one will ever compare to you. You could rip his fucking heart from his chest and he would look at you like you hung the moon. There is  _nothing_  you could do that could make him look at you differently.”

“You know—”

Jellybean put a hand up to stop her from speaking. “But I’m his family. Dad and I are his family,” she gritted out. “He still looks at us with that… that… apprehension.” She gulped. “That fear.” She shivered a bit, feeling so very uncomfortable.

Betty’s breath shook as she closed her eyes for a second, taking Jellybean’s words in. “You know he doesn’t trust me either, right?”

“How can you even—”

“Jelly, I can  _promise_  you he doesn't trust me. The love he feels for me isn’t the same love he feels for you. You’re his sister. He loves you, JB. No matter how scared he is to open back up to you, he’d do anything for you. You have to know that,” she told her, reaching for her hands. “But I… I understand him in a way that no one else can. There’s nothing about him that I can’t read, so you have to understand that he doesn’t trust me yet,” she exhaled. “He only looks at me differently because he’s in love with me. It’s not the type of thing that just  _goes away_ … no matter how bad things got in between. It’s just different.”

Jellybean finally met Betty’s eyes, seeing they were just as tear-filled as her own. “How can it be different? He’s told you about the anxiety. He’s let you back in.” She gulped. All she wanted was to feel like she was in a close family.

“Jelly, did you ever think of it this way?” Betty tried a new approach. “You’re telling me all of this, but have you ever told him? Because the only way I got him to talk was by me talking first.” She reached out for Jellybean’s small hands, holding them gently in her own. It looked like that clicked in her mind. “Don’t you think that’s a good idea?”

Slowly and hesitantly, Jellybean nodded. “Yeah,” she whispered. “I guess you’re right.” She gave up her stubbornness for the moment, realizing she needed to broaden her mind. “It’s just scary, you know?”

“I know,” Betty smiled sadly. “But you should talk to him. Maybe you’ll find out a little more about his anxiety too. You guys could be there for each other more often,” she tried, squeezing the girl’s hands.

Nodding, Jellybean sniffled. “Thanks, Betty,” she whispered, but was suddenly engulfed into a big hug. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a bitch,” she said, hugging back.

“It’s okay.”

For awhile, they stayed silent, just hugging each other. Jellybean didn’t want to be so mean anymore. After seeing Jughead in an anxiety-ridden state like that, she wanted this to be normal. She just had to try.

When they left the bedroom, all they heard from FP was, “I wish I could’ve been there for you, son.”

* * *

“A lot went on today,” Betty sighed looking at her mother, who was next to her and then at Veronica, who was on the other side of the booth. Pop had just brought out their milkshakes, so she seeked comfort in that.

“I just hope Jughead’s sister actually talks to him,” Veronica sighed. “For her sake, obviously, but also for his. Maybe it’ll give him some clarity about why she’s been the way she has.”

Alice pursed her lips. “I’m sure From needs that sense of clarity as well. He— They’ve been through a lot in their lives.” Her voice wasn’t as rude as it usually was when she talk about the Jones family. It actually sounded…  _caring._

“I’m sorry,” Veronica shook her head, seeming shocked and confused. Looking at her best friend’s mother, she raised an eyebrow as she fiddled with her straw. “Did I just hear Alice Cooper speak kindly about the Jones family?” She mocked, not really caring if it sounded rude. She’s never been a fan of Alice’s anyway.

Betty rolled her eyes while Alice let out a small scoff. “I know the difference between right and wrong, Veronica,” she spat. “And who knows? Maybe I got that same very sense of clarity or out of hearing this, but I know that that family needs a break in life.”

“Everyone just needs time to take a break.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead comes to talk to Betty. When things get heated, they become a bit sidetracked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Explicit Content

“Please be here. Please be here. Please be here,” Jughead muttered into the cold night air as he paced back and forth in front of the Pembrooke. He didn’t know where Betty actually was, whether it be here or at the Cooper household. He was praying it was the former though because he wanted to see her, to hear her voice, to  _thank_  her.

Ultimately, saying he was feeling nervous was an understatement to what he was experiencing at the moment. It was inconclusive as to why he felt this way, but he assumed it was because from the moment he saw her the other day, he’s felt like he’s falling in love all over again and had no way out. He knows he’s loved her for as long as he can remember, but this felt like a renewal. All he needed now was a little bit of trust.

Letting out a very heavy breath, Jughead went up the stairs, skipping every other step to try and make us journey somewhat quicker. Once he was inside the building, feeling the warmth of the heating system in the apartment complex, he didn’t know why he made himself wait outside in the blistering cold for so long. Plus, he knew that no matter what he would eventually have to face Betty.

He just hopes that she’s here.

Luckily, Jughead is the only person that enters this building who doesn’t have to go through all sorts of security to be allowed access into visiting Veronica and Archie (though he assumes Betty is now with him on that list as well). Having to deal with Smithers and André was not something he wanted to go through when he was on a mission such as this. A quick wave to the two hired men that worked for the Lodge’s and he was on his way up the elevator and to the penthouse.

Just as he reached his friend’s floor, Veronica and Archie cams walking out with coats and umbrellas, looking ready to face the gloomy, cold day. “Jug?” Archie stopped in his tracks. “What’s up, man? We were just heading to meet my dad.”

“Is Betty here?” Jughead asked, not even bothering to greet either of them. The way his eyebrows were creased together though, they had a feeling something was tossing and turning inside of him, so they decided not to push or ask him things he didn’t want to hear.

Veronica nodded, lifting her eyebrows a bit. “She’s in the guest room, I think,” she offered, secretly wanting to know what was about to happen between them.  _Will it be good? Will it be bad? Life changing? Perception altering? Decision deciding?_  Despite her nosey nature and endless questions, she did a good job of keep her lips sealed. Betty would fill her in later anyway.

 _Thank God,_ Jughead thought to himself. He ducked his head down as he gave a small nod and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Thanks,” he said just above a whisper. Then he was headed his way towards the hallway.

“Well, goodbye to you too,” Archie snorted before wrapping his arm around his girlfriend and leading her out. He knew it’s best to leave those two alone anyway because who knows what could happen between Betty and Jughead?  _Either fighting or sex… or maybe either crying or cheers. Huh. Now_ I’m _the curious one,_  Archie thought, but quickly dismissed. A minute later, Archie and V were gone.

Slowly, Jughead tiptoed to the bedroom. Unleashing his curled up fist from his pocket, he gave a small knock to the wooden frame of the door… just loud enough to her to hear. “Betty,” he called out with a shaky voice. “It’s me. Can we, uh—”

“Come in, Jug,” Betty voice echoed then from the other side of the door. She wasn’t surprised that he was here.

Very hesitantly, Jughead cracked open the door. He found Betty to be sitting on the bed with the covers engulfing her. She looked quite comfortable in her sweatpants, topping it off by having her hair in a loose bun. The last thing Jughead noticed was that there was a book in her lap… not just any book though—  _Beloved_. Again, not just any copy of Toni Morrison’s  _Beloved_ , but the signed copy that he got her for Christmas how many years ago. Seeing it made his heart do summersaults.

“Hi,” he eventually managed to blurt out.

“Hi,” she responded softly. Betty studied him— his appearance, his facial expression, the tension that was in his shoulders. She wondered if he had really talked to Jellybean and how it went. She wondered if there was something more preoccupying his brain. “How are you?” She tested the waters.

Jughead gulped and started rocking back and forth on his feet. “I’m— alright,” he nodded. “I talked to Jellybean and I just kind of want to say thank you.” He refused to meet her eyes while he spoke. Why the hell was he so jittery right now? It’s just Betty. Just Betty. That’s the thing though…  _it’s Betty._

One of the softest smiles ever seen grazed Betty’s lips. Her eyes were so warm. So fucking loving. “What are you thanking me for?” She shimmied out from the covers, showing more of herself.   

“First, for helping me calm myself before I full on panicked. Second, JB would have never talked to me if it wasn’t for you,” Jughead responded honestly, inching forward until he was sitting on the foot of the bed. “It hurt to hear all that stuff from her, but she needed to tell me. That wouldn’t have happened without you,” he said, meeting her emerald eyes with his stormy ones. They sure matched each other in every instinct— every look, every smirk or frown. Betty’s lips parted as if she was going to give a remark, but Jughead continued. “You have the effect, you know?” Betty raised a confused eyebrow. “You change things… fix them… make them better. You’ve always done that.” Now he looked sheepish, but he wouldn’t remove his gaze off of her. He felt like if he did, everything would erupt, but right now, things felt calm. It felt like that anger and uneasiness they’ve felt towards either themselves or the world, in general, had subsided for the moment.

Betty felt it too. This, right here, felt different than their past few interactions. The atmosphere was tender. Nearly in a trance, she reached out for his hand. Her small, skinny fingers traced the back of his palm. She could’ve sworn she felt an bolt of electricity course it’s way through her arm. “I just want things to be good for you, Juggie,” she let the nickname slip. “You need the good things.”

They barely realized that their faces were growing closer together. It was magnetic, like they had to connect. “Are you one of those good things?” Jughead asked as he felt her breath on his skin.

“I could be,” Betty whispered, her lips just hovering above his. “Do you want me to be?”

Jughead eyes kept flashing from her eyes to her lips… back and forth, up and down. “Yes,” he shook. All of a sudden, before they knew who initiated it, their lips were clashing. It started out gentle, just tasting each other, but it quickly became fervent. “Yes,” he repeated, pushing her back onto the bed without a second though. It was as if he was possessed by lustful desires in that split second. His mouth moved from hers to her neck. “Yes. God, I want you in every way… the good and the bad.”

“Are you gonna do something about it?” Betty breathed out, tangling her fingers into his hair as he sucked on the sensitive spot of her neck. Jughead simply peered up at her through his eyelashes as an answer. His eyes were darker than she’d ever seen them. It made the valley of her thighs ache in the most unholy way. “Fuck, I  _need_  you to do something about it.” It was unlike her to be so sporadic and needy, but there was nothing that could make her not want this.

Jughead sat up, pulling the blankets off of her to make them closer. She reached for his jacket, practically ripping it off. He helped her discard his jacket, his flannel, and his t-shirt. _Fuck, why do I always have to layer?_ The second his shirt was off though and he saw Betty eyeing him up, it felt okay. “What?”

“Holy shit,” is all Betty said before pulling him back onto her. She knew he’d grown into quite the strong, toned man, but this? His abs were rippling, for God’s sake. Oh, and the tattoos on his arms just made it all the more sexier.

Jughead growled as his tongue battled with hers. His hands snaked under her tank top, slipping it off her body while her hands raked down his torso until they were lodged in the waistline of his jeans. They needed to feel each other, skin on skin. Betty looped her leg around his waist, flipping on top of him. She watched as he took in her chest. He gulped as his hands roamed the rounded of her breasts.

“Are you gonna stop me this time?” Betty asked as she kissed down his torso. Her hands were fiddling with his belt.

“Hell no,” Jughead breathed, growing more aroused by the millisecond. He lifted his hips so she could pull his jeans off. Then there they were… Betty simply in her baby blue, cheeky panties and Jughead in his boxers.

For awhile, they made out sloppily. Betty rolled her hips downward, feeling his hardness pushing at her core. They were both letting out moans at how bad they needed this. It had been way too long.

In a flash, Jughead flipped her onto her back. Her licked down her body, hooking his thumbs in the fabric of her underwear and pulling them down as he did so. Betty whimpered. “Please, Juggie. Please, I need to feel you.” Jughead was on the move. He pulled down his boxers, exposing his hard length. Betty sucked in a breath, but before she knew it, he was sinking into her. “O-oh,” she let her eyes closed, feeling him fill her.

They had be dreaming of this for seven fucking years. The image of what they could have been doing was the only thing to please them, but now it was real again.

“You okay?” Jughead asked, kissing below her ear.

“M-move,” Betty nodded. She bit her lip as she subconsciously felt her legs spread a little further so by could wrap around his waist. They were quick to find a rhythm, as if this was meant for them and only them together. Betty rocked under him as he thrusted in and out. “Jughead,” she moaned as he hit the most sensitive spot in her. To make her body feel even more heated, he brought his fingers to her clit, circling in the most sensual way. “Fuck.”

“I’m not gonna last long,” Jughead muttered and she agreed. The feeling of her walls clenching around his with each movement was pushing him to be brink. She was so fucking tight. He hadn’t had this in so, so long.

Approximately four minutes and both of them were releasing. Betty’s legs shook as she came undone around him and Jughead’s body clenched. He flopped on top of her as he finished, not yet wanting to pull out because it felt so right to be inside of her.

Eventually, once he started to catch his breath, he rolled off of her and laid by her side. Her breathed with still unsteady. As he took in her side profile, she was glowing.

“Was this a bad idea?” Jughead asked. In some ways, it was. He felt  _so_  good though.

Betty looked at him, noticing he didn’t look so tense and worried anymore. She brought her hand of his cheek, feeling the warmth of his skin. She smiled softly. “Best idea we ever had.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Jughead deals with things at the Whyte Wyrm, Veronica tells Betty she needs to think about the future.

_“What?”_  Jughead answered his cell phone, which had been ringing and ringing and ringing, with a harsh voice as he watched Betty from the corner of his eye. She was shimming on a pair a dark gray leggings and honestly, he couldn’t help but think she was just the cutest thing.

 _“Uh. Hey, boss,”_  Sweet Pea stammered.  _“Well… There’s kind of something…”_ His voice sounded uneasy and slightly frantic, but the slowness and hesitance was irking Jughead.

He ran a hand over his face. He’d rather not be bothered by pointless shit right now. “What, Sweet Pea? What do you need now?” Jughead asked.

 _“Fangs and Joaquin are… here. You might wanna get your ass to the Wyrm like right now,”_  Sweet Pea said in a jumble.  _“Also, Jellybean is drunk.”_  That was all he said before hanging up the phone.

Jughead’s eyes went wide.  _Fangs? Joaquin?_ That confused the shit out of him, for one. But secondly, _did he just say Jellybean is drunk?_

“You okay?” Betty’s voice snapped him out of his haze. Her brows creased in a worried manner as she took one step towards him.

Shoving his cell phone into his pocket, Jughead gave a half nod. “Yeah, uh,” he walked towards her, reaching around to get his shirt. “Fangs and Joaquin are back. Jellybean’s drunk,” he blabbered, not yet realizing how comfortable he felt just telling her about what was going on. Whatever was in the air today was pushing down all the walls he had up against her. “I gotta—”

“Oh, yes. Yes, go. Go ‘head,” Betty urged him, knowing that with the responsibilities of being the leader of the gang, he couldn’t miss anything. Also, he definitely had to deal with his sister, which was pretty darn high on the list of what was important. “Go be the leader you were meant to be,” she saluted, trying to make a joke.

_‘You were meant to be.’_

That made Jughead feel all warm inside, even if it wasn’t intended to. Well, that and how understanding she was being. After finishing up and sliding his Timberlands on, he was pressing a kiss to her temple. “I had a good morning,” he whispered.

“Me too, Juggie,” Betty smiled, fighting the urge to trace the skin that he had just kissed. Her heart felt like it was going to burst with the feelings she had for him.  _Will this feeling ever go away? I sure hope not._  “I’ll— Uh. I’ll talk to you later.”

“I’ll see you,” he said lowly, walking backwards. They kept talking as if saying more words would keep them together longer. It wasn’t until the front door opened that both, Jughead and Betty jumped up too. “Oh, shit. Okay, I gotta go,” he said before pushing past the emerging Veronica and Archie.

Betty stood there, biting back a smile. Once the door was completely shut though, she whipped her head around to her two best friends. “Hi guys!” Her voice was just an octave too high.

“Uh…” Archie was looking between her and the door, slightly confused. He knew Jughead was here, but it’s been hours. Why was he just leaving now? “What just—”

There was no doubt that Veronica was the smarter one. She studied the clues— the way Jughead said goodbye, the way Betty stared longingly as he left, the way her skin was more fucking luminous than she had ever seen. She caught on quit. “Oh, my god,” she helped, her voice in an excited tremble. “You just had sex!” Veronica shrieked so loud that they were sure the people outside of the building could hear it. “You guys had sex! Ahhhh!”

Betty’s eyes widened.  _How the hell did she figure that out?_  She didn’t even understand how Veronica’s mind made that connection. “Oh, my gosh,” she squealed before taking off in full speed for the bedroom.

“You really did it! Holy shit! Holy shit!” Veronica was quick to drop her purse and run after her so that she could demand an explanation. “Tell me what happened? B, you gotta tell me everything!”

“Stop!” Betty yelled back, slamming the door closed before Veronica could slip inside. They both burst into a long fit of laughter. It didn’t stop Veronica from knocking on the door and begging to come in though. “Fine, fine,” Betty reopened after about four whole minutes.

They both settled on the bed, but Veronica kept her eyes trained on her best friend. Her green eyes were shining as if they were seeing life in a new light. There was so much contentment surrounding her. “You look happy.”

“I feel happy,” Betty let out a breath and nodded her head. It was the first time she felt genuinely happy since she came home. This morning gave her so much hope… hope for what her and Jughead could be again one day, hope that they were still there (and oh, they were).

Veronica grinned. She was proud of them both. They needed to come to their senses. She hoped maybe now they know how much better they are together than they are apart. Despite the trepidation that Jughead had gone through with this and the fear that Betty had experienced, they were both so much happier when they were in each other’s presence. There was still a problem with this situation though. “But, uh, Betty?”

“Hm?”

“You still have a job in New York… a good job… _a life._ You have a whole life there,” Veronica frowned, hating the fact that this was just going to bring on more unwanted stress and confusion. To that, unsurprisingly, Betty bit the inside of her cheek, batting down her eyes at her hands. “What are you gonna do, B?”

Sucking in a breath, Betty took a moment to think. She did have a whole other life in New York City… a steady job, an apartment, a group of friends, an elderly neighbor with three kittens that she visits every week. That place was a good fit for her, but it wasn’t spot on. Deep down, she knew it from the time she moved there and she absolutely knew it now. “This is my home. Riverdale is my home.”

Veronica understood, but it was still complex. “So…” As the supportive best friend that she is, she reached for Betty’s hand. When the girl didn’t speak further on what she was going to even think about doing, she proceeded to prompt her. “Do you know what— Maybe— Are you going to talk to Jughead about this? Or your family?” Despite Veronica’s efforts, Betty was still quiet. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Betty shook her head. Even if they still had things to figure out and trust to regain, she and Jughead loved each other very much. She couldn’t imagine living life without him again. Maybe it sounds crazy to say that after only seeing him for a few days, but there connection was stronger than anyone else’s. How could someone love another person this much? Practically one glance at him after seven fucking years and she was head over heels again. It was definitely the loose black curls and the biker clothes that did her in. She’s always loved a bad boy  _(wink, wink)_.

“I want to stay…” Betty’s eyes were set. Nothing could change her mind. “I need to stay.”

* * *

Jughead pulled his motorcycle into the parking lot of the Whyte Wyrm and set for the inside of the bar. The second his hand was on the handle of the door, he knew something was off in there. He heard hushed voices and a lack of breaking glass… normally it was screaming and shattering. Things did not seem right.

Nevertheless, there was no doubt that Jughead felt very distracted. How couldn’t he when his mind kept drifting to the way Betty would moan his name when he was inside of her or the way their bodies molded so perfectly together? How couldn’t he think of her? It was damn near impossible not to.

He could practically find her in everything he looked at. The green color of the embroidered serpent on the back of his leather jacket reminded him of the green in her eyes. The rays of sun reminded him of how angelic she was. The laughter he heard in the background sound reminded him of how adorable it is when the corners of her eyes scrunch up because of how hard she giggles. The array of flowers he zoomed past on the way to the bar reminded him of her beauty. She was everywhere.

He had to focus though. Jughead knew he couldn’t daydream like a teenager about a girl. He was the boss… the leader. He had to fucking act like it.

Clearing his throat, Jughead walked into the bar. He was ready to face whatever needed to be faced. The Serpents were split, giving him an aisle to walk down where Joaquin and Fangs were waiting at the end.  _Don’t get distracted._

“DeSantos. Fogarty,” Jughead called out, keelung his voice low and mild. Everyone was silent, nosey, and ready to listen, so it wasn’t like he had to yell over anyone. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” There was an edge to his voice, showing he wasn’t ready to put up with any shit. He’s made this gang into a  _good_  thing, and he wasn’t about to let anything or anyone screw it up.

Joaquin defensively put his hands up with a little chuckle before reaching out to give a ‘bro-hug’ to Jughead. “We’re here to bring no trouble, man,” he said, patting the Serpent leader’s back. “We— Uh— We just wanted to tell you we’re moving back to town. Fangs and I are married.”

“What?” Jughead said with wide eyes. “Oh, shit. Good for you, guys.” He hugged them both, proud that they’ve gotten this far. He always knew Fangs was more into guys than girls, but he never actually came out with it when he was home all those years ago. He’s glad he’s gotten here. All of the other Serpents started to clap though. “You looking for an in now?”

“No matter what, we’re Serpents,” Fangs finally stepped forward. “We just wanted to let you know we’re here if you need anything.” To that, Jughead thanked them. “But, uh, you may want to go deal with your sister.”

Jughead sighed. At least the others in the bar were starting to spread out and get back to their regular routine. He trudged his way over to where his sister sat atop of a barstool with Toni and Cheryl at her side. “She okay?” He asked and they shrugged before getting up to give them privacy. “What happened, JB?” Jughead asked, a bit exasperated.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I was just overwhelmed. So much has come onto me in the past day. I’m sorry. I messed up. I’m sorry,” she pleaded. Jellybean knew that underage drinking like this was not good for her to fall into. She knew she made a mistake by doing this.

Jughead pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry too.”

Breaking the moment much earlier than it needed to be, FP entered the bar. “Jughead,” his voice called out in a loud, serious manner. “Your girl needs you right now.  She’s at the trailer.”

_My girl needs me right now. My girl._


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty realizes she has a lot to figure out if she's going to stay in Riverdale, so she talks about with Jughead and they begin their journey.

Betty paced back and forth in the Joneses empty trailer. She knew that Jughead wouldn’t be here at this time, but she couldn’t deal with going to the Whyte Wyrm. If she wanted like have a real, serious conversation with him, which she did, she couldn’t go somewhere that she’d be ridiculed by his fellow Serpents and pushed out. Plus, she didn’t want to risk seeing Cheryl because she knew that woman would have a lot to say… she always did. Overall, like any person would in a situation such as this, Betty just wanted some privacy…. not the privacy that comes in the Pembrooke where Veronica would have her ear to the door, not the privacy of a booth at Pop’s where other people were around to listen. She wanted this, privacy in a place that had once been so meaningful and intimate like this because hell, in their teenage years, a lot had happened in this trailer and on that very couch against the wall. It was all reminiscent and it made her feel  _comfortable_.

Still though, as she waited for him to come and looked around at all the things that had some sort of value to the beginning of their relationship, the seconds passed like minutes and the minutes passed like hours.

She needed to take up some time. Betty walked to the shelf in the corner of the room, seeing a row of picture frames lined up. There was a picture of a little Jughead holding baby Jellybean. She smiled at the cuteness of it. Next was a picture of JB and Gladys… her heart clenched at the thought that they never got rid of that. She gazed through some more of the family, whether the pictures were taken together or apart, just thinking back to those times so many years ago.

Shaking her up a bit, Betty landed on one of her, Jughead, and Archie when they were probably around four years old, sitting in a sandbox. She had her bleach blonde hair in pigtails and her pink sundress was covered in dirt. Her tongue was stuck out at the boys in a playful manner, clearly teasing them. Jughead, wearing a pair of jeans and a flannel that was all to big, was looking at her with a big smile. Archie was sitting in front of them but a few inches, seeming focused on building a castle. She had never seen this picture, but it made her insides feel all nice and warm.

Moving on, she gazed through a few more. The one she landed on last though was graduation. She sucked in a breath at the sight of it, remembering it like it was yesterday. She and Jughead were standing there with the arms around each other, looking at each other in the most loving way. It looked like nothing could step between them. It hurt her heart to look at that time. They were so happy that day. With Veronica and Archie a few feet beside them, things were just good that day. There was so much love in the air. The horrors of the town, the controversy, and the fighting had all disappeared on that one graduation day… well, at least it seemed that way for them.

As she traced her fingers over the outlines of her and Jughead in the photograph, she didn’t hear the front door opening. It wasn’t until a familiar voice made its way to her that she snapped out of her haze. “Missing those old times, huh?”

_Jughead._

Betty’s head whipped around at the sound of his voice. It was so tender.  _Why is he talking so soft? Why is he looking at me like that? So… so… so…_  She couldn’t figure out the word, and well clearly, she was still a little bit distracted. She had the tendency of doing that, after all.

True reality washed over her when Jughead’s brows started to furrow. Worry took over his features within a second of uncertainty. She assumed it was because she never got to match his warm hearted look or his sweetly suggestive words. He stepped forward, and she kept her feet planted. She liked when there was barely any distance between them. The air felt easier to breathe that way.

“Something like that,” Betty eventually whispered, responding the the question he asked moments ago. She sucked in a breath then, batting her eyes down. “Jug—”

“What’s up? What’s wrong?” Jughead quizzed. His concern was genuine, which was clear as day. “When my dad said you wanted to talk, it sounded pretty urgent. Is everything okay?” Now he was starting to babble.

Betty stepped forward, placing a  _somewhat_  reassuring hand on his elbow. “I just— We have to talk about something.”

Jughead replayed the words in his mind.  _What else do we have to talk about? Haven’t we covered it all? I mean, holy shit. So much talking._  “Well…” He started, unsure of himself. “Well, what do you want to talk about?” With the arm that Betty’s hand was not on, Jughead lifted his hand to rub the back of his neck in a nervous manner.

Betty stared him dead in the eyes. While he was readable, showing that he was clearly concerned about whatever this situation could be, she was strangely unreadable. He didn’t know whether to think that that was a good or bad thing… mentally, he decided the latter. He watched as her lips parted before she spoke. “I want to stay in Riverdale,” Betty practically blurted.  _But wait…_ Jughead knew that already. She’s said she was going to stay before, so why was she so worked up?

With furrowed brows, Jughead tilted his head to the side. “Yeah?” His voice came out sounding very confused. “I thought we— I knew that, I thought?” He was genuinely baffled. Also, with the way she said it so matter of factly, he didn’t think she’d be going any further on  _why_  she was saying this.

“Yes,” Betty nodded, dragging the affirmation out for longer than it needed to be. Her eyes started wandering all over the trailer, like she didn’t know what to do. Eventually though, she sucked in a breath and just came out with it. “I want to stay and I want to _be with you,_  and I know we kinda fooled around and all that, but I don’t really know what you want from this. I know we love each other, but I also know you don’t trust me one bit. So I just have no clue what to take of this. I just want to be here and with you and around you and yeah… but I mean, the other problem is that I have a life in New York City. It’ll be a lot to figure out back there so I’m just kind of wondering what you would think about me—”

“If you think that what we did this morning was just fooling around than you are quite mistaken,” Jughead cut her off. Truly, he was surprised she even thought that. At the same time though, with the way she was rambling at such a fast pace, he was also surprised he was able to comprehend what she was saying. Then he thought about all the times he’s really heard her babble like this… it was only ever around him.

Betty blinked her eyes. “Really?”

“Betty,” Jughead let out as he ran a hand over his face. “Since you left, I’ve slept with one other person. That person, may I add, was called ‘Betty’ the whole night. Honestly, I only know that because Archie told me the next day. I was so fucking drunk when it happened that I don’t remember it,” he shook his head. “ _That_  is hooking up. You and me? We’ve never just  _hooked up_.” Such fondness was taking over him as he spoke of her. God, did he love her.

“Y-You only hooked up with one other person?” Betty asked, suddenly feeling small under his gaze. She wondered if that was even possible. He’s a male after all… they’re less controlled with their urges half the time

Jughead nodded shyly. His cheeks were suddenly a light shade of pink. “Yeah,” he confirmed. “No one else felt right, you know?”

Betty stepped closer. Their bodies were practically touching at this point. “I know,” she whispered. “I’ve never gotten that far with anyone else. No one can match up to you, Juggie,” she whispered. Her hands were now grasping his jacket. She could see him adam’s apple move as he gulped at the realization of his words.

Jughead absentmindedly leaned his forehead against her.  _Touch._ He always wanted to touch her. His voice was weak and shaky, but he head to say something. “I-I— Yeah,” is all he managed to mumble out. Thankfully, Betty understood, causing him to give her a slight grin.

“Do you…” Betty started, but paused. “Do you want me to stay?”

“I’ve said it before, haven’t I?” Jughead responded. He needed her to know he meant it even in that anxiety-filled state that he was in during that time. They were nearly in the same position then as they are now… so close with their foreheads touching and their breaths ghosting the other’s skin. “I want you to stay.”

> Betty’s felt her heart practically explode inside of her chest.  _He wants me to stay. He wants me to stay._   _Oh, my god. He wants me to stay._ She was internally screaming. The logical side of her was on display though. “I need to go back to New York then.”

“What?” Jughead snapped his head back. Did he really just tell her she wants her here for her to say she’s leaving again? Is she fucking kidding?

“Do you want to come with me?”

“What?”

“Jug,” Betty said, looking at him like he was being naive and oblivious to the world around them. “I have to talk to my boss. I have to put my apartment for sale. I have to get my stuff. I have to…”

“Oh,” Jughead cut her off, finally understanding the point. “But you’re…?”

Betty smiled. “I want to be here.” She had happy look in her eyes… one that Jughead would never tire of. “So, again, do you want to come with me? We can have our fresh new start. We can become the people we’ve wanted to be  _together_  this time around? So what do you say? Come with me. Come with me for a few weeks and then we’ll be back here in Riverdale, at home, forever.” There was such optimism in her voice, just like when they were young. She really did want this.

Jughead didn’t need to think much on what he was going to do, but he waited for a moment before replying anyway. “When do we leave?”

* * *

With Jughead’s hand tightly gripped in hers, Betty pulled Jughead into the Pembrooke and up to the penthouse. They were going quicker than they needed, but Betty didn’t care. She was excited. This was a new beginning with the man she loved most; sure, she knew that it was a lot to build up on, but it was going to work.

They got upstairs and entered right passed Veronica and Archie. Betty didn’t say a word to them, being how focused she was. “What’s going on?” Archie asked.

“We’re going to New York City,” Jughead said. His voice got quieter as he got farther away from them and behind Betty’s bedroom door.

Archie and Veronica looked at each other with the same expression. “Did he just say they’re going to the city?” Veronica asked, furrowing her brows.  _“Together?”_

“I think so,” Archie responded. There was a dash of curiously behind his tone. Then he looked back at the door of the guest bedroom, and so did Veronica. They just stared as they heard mumbled speaking and a lot of ruffling. “Huh,” Archie let out.

Veronica and Archie just sat there, waiting in silence for Betty and Jughead to come back so that they don’t miss anything. This was a step… a big step. They had to be sure their friends knew what they were doing.

A minute or two later, Jughead and Betty were emerging out into the living room with bags in tow. “How the hell did you pack that fast?” Veronica asked.

“Never really finished unpacking when I came here,” Betty informed her. “We’re going to New York, but we’ll be back. I don’t know when, but we will be. Probably two weeks at most,” she blabbered as she headed for the door with Jughead behind her.

“What? Do you two know what your doing?” Veronica was worried. She wanted everything to work out for them, but she also didn’t want them rushing into anything or making bad decisions.

“Yes, we aren’t that stupid,” Jughead said as they started to leave. “Bye. Betty will call you when we get there!”

Then they were gone… and on their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for being so patient with me. I'm so grateful for all of your kudos and comments. I just want to apologize for how bad this writer's block is that I'm having. Hopefully, my updates will be picking up again soon, I just gotta push through this with continuing these chapters.

**Author's Note:**

> New fanfic!! I hope you all like it. Comments and kudos are always appreciated :)  
> Follow me on tumblr :) bug-headx


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